A/N: Ohh shit? Another one?! Yessir, another one!
I felt this story was severely lacking in Vitamin A, as in Azazel. Thus, I set out to rectify that. It's time she got the spotlight. For a little while, anyways.
Hope you guys enjoy this one! And hey, I even went through some of the old chapters and polished them up. Just a littttle bit. AND I even proofread this one! Maybe not very well, but I did!
Anyways, enough of me prattling on! Have fun, my dear readers!

...

The sounds of a guitar ring through the open backyard, overlooking the woods and lake. At a picnic table sits a lone figure. A young man, basking in the early-autumn air. He sings along with the song as he knocks back the last of an energy drink.

"High on the hill where the fox horns blow, and down in the city where the heathens go! Catholic girl pray for me, you're my only hope for Heaven!" He hollers, tossing the empty can into a bin. Ollie came out here every now and then, since settling into his uncle's household. The others could be... overbearing, for sure. But they all seemed to have spots where they could go to get away from others. Monica had her room which doubled as her office, Justice was fond of the Garage where she could usually be found benching uncle's van. Hell if he knew how that was possible. As if he needed any further proof that they were inhuman.

Lucifer often shacked up in the bathroom every evening for a bubble bath, which he swiftly learned was not to be disturbed under any circumstances. The memory of walking in without knocking and being threatened with eternal damnation was enough to make him shiver.

He was sure he was already marked for an eternity in Hell, but that didn't mean he was too eager to rush to his grave. Some days the urge was there, sure. But that usually depended on how his day was going. He at least had a few things to be glad for. One was the fact that the demons were (surprisingly) able to respect someone's privacy when it came to each of their own little getaway spots. Second was, well, Malina.

Ahh, yes. Malina. Ollie wasn't sure how things ended up moving so... so quickly between them. Then again from the sound of it, his uncle ventured into Hell one morning and was back home with a gaggle of demons before dinner. And things were going well! He had just accepted that some things in life happened fast. He wasn't upset about it, he had come to find that he had greatly enjoyed her company, as prickly as Malina could be. About as cuddly as a cactus, that one.

He hadn't really interacted with many of the others, yet. Judgement gave him a haircut yesterday, after opening a can of whup-ass on him. She was pretty cool though. Justice had watched over him with Azazel when his hand got burned. She was kind of a like a cool mom, who made a mean apple pie to boot.

Monica scared him shitless, truth be told. If he was going to interact with her, he'd prefer it be in that buffer area after her first coffee and before her second. She was always a bit groggy then. Less likely to well... maim him.

Then there was Zdrada. Don't even get him started on Zdrada. They had made some semblance of what could be called peace, but if he was honest, he was waiting to break their truce at any moment.

Modeus was... horny. Too horny. But beyond her trying to be a cock burglar, their interactions had been really rather pleasant.

As for Cerberus? He wasn't quite scared of them. Nervous, to be sure. The kind of nervous where your buddy finds a dud explosive in his backyard and plays with it, disregarding the fact that it could level the neighborhood at any moment.

Yes, that happened. No, he didn't want to remember that particular afternoon.

Lucifer was domineering and bossy. Beyond that all Ollie really thought of her was 'Don't piss her off, don't interrupt her bath time.' That said, his uncle somehow pacified her in a way that had Ollie scratching his head every time he witnessed it.

Last person in the house was Azazel. The angel. Truth be told, he had wished to spend some time with her. She was the one who healed his wounds every time he had gotten hurt. Which was three (four, if you count Ollie getting taken to Suplexcestershire by Judgement) times. Maybe he oughta seek her out, see what she's up to? Maybe they could go get some food and shop for clothes before his date with Mal?

Speak (or think, rather) of the angel, and she shall appear. He hears the old door shriek behind him, grating on his ears. As her turns, he sees just the woman he was about to set out and search for. "Ollie! There you were, I've been looking all over for you!" She calls out, cheerful as ever as she all but skips over to him. She holds something in her hands, a bundle wrapped in tissue paper. Tied up with a little bow, even!

"Awh, Azzie, you didn't need to." He chuckles. She shakes her head.

"Nonsense. I told you I'd get this back to you!" She grins.

Confused, he shreds through the paper, revealing his sweatshirt. The one he lent Azzie on his first night here! "Ohh, damn! I forgot I lent you this! Thanks Azzie, I been lookin' all over for this!" He laughs, overjoyed. He pulls her into a hug, wrapping his arms around her and lifting her up. She returns the embrace tenfold.

"An angel always makes good on her promises." She nods, as if it were a no-brainer that she'd return the favor. It wasn't quite as though he expected her not to, but more so that he'd forgot he'd given her this in the first place. What with the mess of his first few days here, that is.

"Heh... never doubted you. Hey, I got something I gotta' do in a few hours, mind if I steal you away for a little while? Could use some help with something." He decides to omit the finer details until they get on the way.

"Of course, I'm always happy to help!" She beams. He gives her a grateful smile, nodding to her.

"Right, thanks Azzie. Meet me in the garage, I gotta go ask Unc' for the keys."

…...

The ride hadn't lasted long until Azazel broke the silence. Which, truth be told, Ollie was glad for. He'd have done it himself, but he wasn't exactly the greatest at conversation.

"So, what are we doing?" She asks him, sipping at her thermos.

"Well, keep this on the down-low for me, okay?" He requests. She nods emphatically. "Me and Malina are going on a... date." She perks up immediately.

"That's fantastic news!" She gasps, eyes glittering like stars. "I knew you two were getting along! Malina is very nice, she lets me watch her play video games for my research sometimes!"

"Yeah, she's one of my favorite people in the house, I think. You as well, you've been real nice. I owe you guys a lot, y'know? But yeah, we're hitting an arcade today and I wanted to grab some clothes. The stuff uncle bought me are super fresh and I like it, but that's a single pair of clothes and I didn't pack much when I came."

"Why didn't you happen to pack more?" She wonders. He sighs.

"Well, aside from being cheaper on luggage fees, I just... didn't have much?" He offers weakly.

"Oh..." She mutters. "Well, I'm sorry about that sweater that was torn up. You must miss it."

"Nah, don't be." He dismisses. "All my old stuffs got... well, bad memories. Good riddance to bad rubbish. Wonder what happened to that thing anyways?"

"I took care of it. Would you like to talk about it, perhaps?" She offers. He shrugs.

"Not much to talk about. Life was rough, I guess."

"I'm sorry. You're such a nice person, you don't deserve a life like that..." She trails off, but he laughs.

"Heh. I'm may be nice, but I wouldn't say I'm a good person by any means, Azzie. I've done things. Things I regret. Hurt people I loved, hurt people I hated." He rambles on. "It's just the way of things. I'd like to say I'm a product of my environment, but you gotta think that some of the best people come from worse lives than me, are they're better people. So maybe that's just how I am? It's the human condition, I guess." A small smile crosses his lips for but a moment. "Still, thanks Azzie. You really are an angel."

"Hehehe..." She giggles, face heating up. He doesn't really notice, focusing on the road.

"Ope! We're here!" He pulls into the parking lot of the strip mall, right in front of the thrift shop, snapping Azazel out of her mildly flustered state. Shutting off the radio and throwing the car in park, he tears the keys from the ignition. "Let's go, if we're quick we can grab some snacks or something on the way back."

"O-okay!" She clamors out of the car, following suit as her enters the shop.

"I ammm gonna' go take a peek at the men's side, think you could help me pick out something that looks good on me?"

"Of course." She replies.

They rifle through the clothes for a while, enjoying the comfortable atmosphere of the store. Pop music plays faintly in the background as they work their way through the sprawling men's section. Over the course of the visit, Ollie tries on many things. Some more unorthodox than others.

He wasn't sure why Azzie asked him to try on a pair of assless chaps, but he figured it was mostly her making an attempt at humor, so he indulged her. If she wasn't an angel, he'd have to assume her stammering was more than just disbelief. But hey, angels were pure, right?

After a while, he had settled on a couple flannels. A black and yellow one, and a white and brown one. On top of that, he settled on a cool tan jacket, with a blue flannel lining and a grey hoodie.

The thought had crossed his mind to maybe grab a gift for Malina, but he wasn't quite sure what to get her. He had combed through the women's section, but nothing had really caught his eye. He had, however, caught Azazel staring at one piece in particular. A white puffer jacket. One with some gold accents around the cuff and collar.

"She likes video games, maybe we can stop through a game store and get her something?" She suggests.

"Yeah, shit I dunno why I didn't think of that." He checks his phone, and the clock reads 2:45PM. The date being at 4:20. 'Hehe.' He giggles inwardly like an idiot child. "We can probably stop in quick before we go home, there's on at the end of the row. Let's pay for these and dip."

By "Let's" he means him, of course. The total on the register reads a staggeringly low $35. A godsend, for sure. He wasn't loaded like Taker by any means, but he wasn't going to go on a spending spree anytime soon. He had, of course, had a little money saved up for himself. Only somewhere around $950, but that was so he could afford to keep himself afloat for a while before he had to get a job.

They make their way back to the van, and Ollie tosses his bag behind the driver's seat, before an idea pops into his head. 'Buy the jacket for Azzie.' His mind nags him. He sighs, unable to resist the insistent tone his conscience took with him.

'Thy will be done, me.' He thinks to himself. It was only right, he supposed, after all she's done for him.

Besides, Autumn and Winter were fast approaching.

"Oh- hey, Azzie. I left my wallet in the store, you go on ahead. I'll meet you there in a minute." He tells her.

"Okay, I'll see you in there!" She affirms, jaunting over to the end of the strip mall.

He had, as fast as possible, entered the thrift store. When he left, he was a whopping $30 poorer, and one sweet jacket richer. Not his to keep of course, but he had to admit it was pretty damned cool. Stuffing it into his bag to surprise her with later, he makes to join Azzie. When he enters, he's surprised to find her being accosted by some neckbeard with a shirt of some VTuber anime girl. As Ollie approaches, he can make out some of what this dude is saying. Something to the effect of "What is that cosplay of?" and "Are you sure you aren't a cosplayer?"

As he approaches, the stench becomes more palpable. The air almost seeming to thicken with filth with each step in his direction. "Hey, Azzie, this guy bugging you?" He asks. Knowing her, she'll be too polite to tell the truth, but he can tell from the crinkle in her nose that she can smell the stink just as much as he can.

"N-no, everything is ok here!" She denies, plastering a fake smile as she gives him a pleading look. Her eyes practically screaming "Please help me!"

"Ah, that's cool." He turns to the stranger. "What's your name?"

He smiles a crooked grin, teeth yellow, almost radiating with the smell of processed cheese dust. "Melv-"

"Melv you fucking reek, dog. Can you stop dick riding my friend and like, I dunno, go away? You're really gross man, shower and get some pussy." He shuts him down.

There's a few second after where time almost seems at a standstill. Mostly from the complete shock of both Azazel and Melvin. Melvin's head droops down, as he sadly walks to the other end of the store, moping. "Ollie! That was terrible! How could you treat another person like that?" She chews him out. He almost feels bad, but on the other hand, it kinda felt good. He can't say he feels guilty for that, so much as he does for upsetting Azazel. "Go apologize, now!" She demands.

"Bu-" "No buts! Say you're sorry!" She commands him. With a put-upon sigh, he ambles over to the moping, stubby man.

"Yo, Melv." He startles a little, but doesn't turn to make eye contact. "Look, I'm sorry, okay? Look, your hygiene could do with some work, and you were definitely bothering my friend, but you didn't deserve for me to do you like that, alright?"

"I-I was just talking to her..." He stutters.

'Christ on a bike, this guy is pathetic.' Ollie deadpans. "Yeah, I get that man, but let's be real. I've been here for all of ten seconds and even I could tell that's not the best way to approach a stranger. And yeah, that's probably hypocritical of me." He shrugs. "Listen, I can't take back what I said, but for what little it's worth, you didn't deserve that and I do feel kinda bad about it." He pats him on the shoulder, before trotting back over to Azazel.

He's not in the least surprised to find out she's not very pleased with his less-than-stellar apology, of course. She still looks a bit peeved, but before she chews him out, he puts his hands up. "Look, I said I was sorry, okay? I wasn't gonna lie to the dude and tell him he smells like flowers." He whispers to her. She sighs, pinching the bridge of her nose.

He'd say this seems out of character for her, but he didn't really know much about her now that he thought about it.

"Look, I'm just gonna look for a game me and Malina can play. Lemme know if anything catches your eye." He parts with her for the remainder of their time in the store. Partly because he wanted to give her space to cool off.

Partly because angry Azazel was scary. Scary like that one teacher that deal with absolutely ZERO bullshit and gives people detention for the smallest fuckups.

Very... disciplinarian.

He had eventually settled on something they could (hopefully) both enjoy, and ended up being a whole $40 shorter than he was 7 minutes ago. Fuck, he hadn't even gone on the date yet. Hopefully she'd like it though. She gets a new game to enjoy, and he gets to enjoy it with her.

Win-win.

However, Ollie could notice that those 7 minutes hadn't been enough for Azazel to calm down. She'd simmered down a bit, but her tone with him had been rather cold. As they sat in the van, with him sifting through his playlist for something half-decent and her staring out the window, he sighed. He was planning on giving it to her later, but...

Better now than later, he supposed.

"Azzie." He says. She ignores him. "Azazel." He calls again, this time with her real name. She turns her head to look at him. "Look, I know you're mad, and I get that. In my defense, I did tell you earlier I wasn't a good person. No excuse, but fair warning. Now, I'm not sorry for getting that guy off your case. But I am sorry that I upset you. I just wanna give you this, to thank you. You've been a good friend to me." He finishes, reaching behind his seat and digging out the jacket from the bottom of the bag.

Her eyes light up when she sees what's in his hands. "Oh, Ollie. That's... very kind of you." She tells him, quietly. She hugs it close to her, contemplative look on her face. "I'm still a little mad about how you treated that man earlier, but I forgive you. Just please, do not let it happen again." She tells him.

"Okay, Azzie. I'm sorry." He smiles, opening his arms, proffering a hug. "We good?"

"We're good." She agrees, meeting him halfway. They share the embrace for a moment before parting.

"Alright, good. Now, what time... HOLY SHIT, IT'S 3:41!" He shouts, slowly beginning his descent into panic. "S-uh sorry Azzie, we gotta postpone getting some snacks, I don't wanna be late!"

"It's okay! Gives us a chance to go out and spend some time together another time." She soothes him.

"It's a plan, now put your seatbelt on, I'm gonna whip this hog."

…...

Ollie did in fact, whip that hog. That is to say, he sped 30 over the entire way home and managed to not get pulled over. He was lucky, as he'd had enough time to take a quick shower and throw on some of his new clothes. He had opted for a strange choice, rolling the sleeves of his tan jacket just below the elbow, and donning the grey hoodie underneath it. Was it a bit unorthodox? Maybe.

But fuck it. His life was unorthodox at this point, so he might as well enjoy it.

Once Malina finally manages to answer the (purposefully) obnoxious hammering on her door, Ollie finds himself stunned, for lack of better term. Wearing a fine black peacoat and a beanie over a red sweater that looked suspiciously like Modeus', and her usual pencil skirt. It wasn't all too different from her usual get-up, truth be told.

That didn't take away from the fact that right there, in that moment, Malina was the most beautiful Ollie had ever seen. And that made him just a bit nervous.

"Hell are you staring at?" Malina asks, almost sounding as if she were amused.

"Duhh... uhh..." Ollie practically goes braindead, but Malina brings him back to reality with a slap.

"Ah! Whyyy?" He whines, rubbing his cheek.

"You were drooling dumbass, now let's get going before someone bothers us."

He just knew deep down this was probably going to go completely wrong. In a fun way, probably.

…...

The date was going well. Surprisingly nothing had gone terribly wrong, yet. They'd run the gauntlet of all the games inside, spending most of the time on the old vintage arcade cabinets. Hell, Ollie even spent $20 getting Malina a little stuffed demon out of a claw game.

"Here you go milady." He hands it to her tipping a pretend fedora and speaking in a nasally voice. She shoves him, holding the plushie close to her chest.

"Don't ever say that again." She grins. She tries to hide it, but he catches the briefest glimpse. It was beautiful. He giggles like a complete idiot. Was that cringy? Undoubtedly. Worth it to get a laugh out of her, he decides.

Of course, they had spent about 2 hours hogging the Guitar Hero machine and glaring daggers at anyone else who tried getting a turn on it. But it was their date night and gods-be-damned they were gonna have fun setting every high score on there!

...Or Ollie was at least. Malina, as it turned out, wasn't all that good at rhythm games. They had decided that was enough games for the night when Malina started drooling, eyes locked onto Ollie's fingers as he FC'd Knights of Cydonia on Expert. One more high score among many others that have fallen to Ollie's rhythm game prowess.

"WHOO! Number one, cocksuckers! Never forget it!" He shouts, pounding on his chest before inputting 'BALLS' at the top of the scoreboard. He giggles like a fool, turning to Malina. "You see th... Mal, you okay? You're drooling, wanna get some food? You look hungry."

"Shut up." She grumbles, scrunching her neck in an attempt to hide in her turtleneck. She storms by, plushie in one hand and Ollie's hand in the other as she drags him to the exit.

"I say something wrong? Where we goin'?" He worries. She tightens the grip on his hand just a bit, comforting him.

"I've had it with the crowds for tonight, let's go get something to eat."

"Oh-uh, sure. Where you wanna go?" He asks, tucking his wallet in his pocket while trying to keep up.

"The diner down the road, Taker took us there once and I've been waiting for another chance to go back."

"D'aww, I'm your excuse to go to the diner! How sweet." He swoons, tone dripping in sarcasm.

"No, but if the shoe fits..." She mutters, clamoring into the passenger seat.

"Ahh, I was just kiddin'. I've never been, is it any good?"

"It's almost as good as Taker's cooking." She says, tone serious as a heart attack.

"Oh. Well shit, by those standards it's gotta' be damn good."

Short few minutes later, they sit in a dimly-lit booth in the old diner. Soaking in the cozy evening atmosphere of the sparsely-populated establishment, they chow down on greasy diner cheeseburgers. Ollie shifts about, pulling the game out of his pocket and placing it beside him, sure not to let Malina see it. "Hey, I been thinkin'..." He starts, getting her attention.

"You think? Shocker." She deadpans, tearing into her burger. He chuckles at that.

"Not often, but I do. I shocked too, believe me. But no, I was gonna say, I like being around you, but..." A look of worry comes upon her. He notices it. "Hey, it's nothin' bad. I just realized well, we dunno much 'bout each other. So I was thinkin', we take turn asking each other questions?"

"Ugh, corny." She gags, but ends up choking on her burger. She guzzles down her glass of water.

"Yeah, but I wanna know who I'm on a date with y'know?" He shrugs. "Don't have to if it makes ya uncomfortable or anything, just a thought."

"I didn't say no."

"Oh. Well you go first, then. Ask pretty much anything."

"Fine. What was life like before you came here?" She asks, setting down her glass.

"It was... eh, well it wasn't great. It was tough. I didn't have much. My parents were immigrants. My dad came from Poland when he was a kid, with uncle. My ma came from Ukraine, when she was in her 20s, I think? They met at a homeless shelter. They were both into drugs. Heroin, mostly. It was a big problem back home, huge epidemic. Anyways they managed to get clean after a while. After I was born ma got back into it. Can't say I'm too upset about it. Good riddance to her, really." He shrugs. "But eh, I'd really rather not talk about her..." He tugs at his collar, looking dour. "Anyways, pops always managed to provide for us. He slaved away at the marina all my life, made enough to afford a small apartment in a shitty neighborhood. Hell, sometimes even food!" He laughs, making an attempt at lightening the quickly-nosediving mood. "Okay, my turn."

He thinks on it for a moment, before settling on one. "So, you and Zdrada. You guys really sisters? I mean you must be if you guys bicker like you do, but do you guys have like, parents? I'd think so, I'm not really sure how you can be related to someone any other way."

"Nah, we're sisters. But we came from the forming pits. That's where most demons come from. You grow in a pit of primordial ooze, and then you just pop out one day. Me and Zdrada just popped out at the same time." She shrugs.

"Is that... supposed to happen?" He wonders, puzzled.

"That's 2 questions in a row, but I'll give it to you. It's rare, but it happens." She explains.

"Huh. No different from up here, I guess. Your turn. Go ahead, shoot."

"Why'd you come to stay with us?" A simple question. A pretty tame one. Suspiciously, Ollie clams up.

"I don't wanna talk about that. Not yet, at least. Look I trust you and all but, well, it's a long story. And it's a pretty bad one. Painful. Can I tell you another time, maybe?" He pleads. "I can at least tell you why I came to Uncle's in particular?"

"Fine, but I want to hear the full story another time." She huffs.

"Dealio. So basically, him and my dad are the only real family I have. My pops doesn't really want anything to do with me, anymore. So, I came here." He smiles at her, staring into her eyes. "And honestly? Zdrada maiming me aside, it's been the best thing that's ever happened to me." He admits.

"Pfft." She turns her head sharply, staring at the window. "Goddamn cheesy."

"Yeah, whatever. You love it, bitch." He laughs. He takes his chance remembering the gift her got her. "I got you something. Or us, I guess." This gets her attention. He presents her with a new copy of Diablo 2: Resurrected, for PS5.

"Huh. Sweet." She muses, taking it in her hands.

"Yeah, I figured I'd get something we might both like. I'm more of an RPG guy than strategy, but it's got an option to turn on the old graphics and I know you like older games, so I figured we could both give it a try. It's got co-op." He explains.

"Wanna get drunk and try it out when we get home?" She asks.

"Can we make out too?"

"Duh."

"I'm in." He agrees, without skipping a beat.