Requested by asweriseup on AO3
Takes place after "Truth Seekers" and before "Ozzie's+Queen Bee"
3rd Person POV
"Prrrrrrr…" Ayden was purring calmly on the couch where she was curled up in demon cat form in the middle of the blanket nest she'd made for herself as dawn was breaking over the city-
"AAAAAHHHH!"
Until she bolted upright in an arc with her fur and hair spiked up like a spooked cat would but the blankets were still haphazardly draped over her body and head at the scream that sounded from Millie and Moxxie's room.
"Shite!" Ayden fully threw the blankets off and bolted over to their room about to break down the door when Moxxie threw the door open and joyfully twirled her around, completely oblivious to the other's franticness, before practically skipping off to the kitchen leaving her in a frozen 'what the hell just happened' pose.
When Millie appeared in the doorway still sleepily wiping her eyes, Ayden voiced the question,
"The hell was that?"
"*Yawn* Mox's just excited for-"
"The Lock 'N Load Expo!" Moxxie cut Millie off when he reappeared back in front of the two of them with stars in his eyes and the two just stared at him, Millie more bored and Ayden more in confusion before she asked,
"The *yawn* what now?"
"Only one of the largest gun shows that only comes through Pride once every 5 years for one day!"
"What's so special 'bout it that it doe'n't happen that of'en?" Ayden questioned as she slowly blinked tiredly.
"They do everything! Exhibitions, demonstrations, shooting workshops, repairs, you name it! It's never at the same time or place and tickets sell out as soon as it's announced when and where it is. And I got two passes for the event today!" Moxxie held up his phone to show an icon for two tickets on the screen.
"Baby I told you last night; today I hafta help out my family with helpin' the neighbors raise their barn back up from that flamin' tornado that hit a few days ago." Millie reminded him.
"I thought your parents hated their neighbors?" Moxxie questioned, confused.
"They do but they promised a favor if they helped and you know how favors are practically currency in Wrath."
"But then who'll I go with?"
"Blitzø?"
"Not if he was the last imp in all nine circles…" Moxxie deadpanned without missing a beat making Millie think for a second before suggesting,
"How 'bout Ayden?"
They both looked over to see Ayden practically sleeping while standing with a bit of drool dripping from the corner of her mouth.
"Really?" Moxxie questioned motioning over to her with a slightly critical glance.
"C'moon baby, I think you're the only one who hasn't had much one-on-one time with her." Millie pointed out.
"She's not gonna take it seriously." Moxxie retorted.
"It could be a good bondin' experience for you both."
"Haaah fine…" Moxxie finally relented before turning around to tap Ayden's shoulder, making her jolt back awake as she sputtered while wiping the drool from her chin,
"Wha's 'at?" Before noticing the two of them and questioning, "What happen'd?"
"How would you like to come with me to the Lock 'N Load Expo?" Moxxie asked her, still with slight doubt in his tone.
"Eh su'e why not?" Ayden answered nonchalantly as she raised her arms above her head in a stretch.
"I'm gonna go get my things ready then." Moxxie headed back into his and Millie's room and slammed the door behind him before the two women went to the kitchen where the fresh pot of coffee Moxxie made was waiting.
Millie poured herself a cup, slapping Ayden's paw away when she tried to do the same, and told her,
"Look I jus' gotta warn ya of a couple'a things before you go."
"Ok?" Ayden questioned as she begrudgingly poured herself a cup of blood orange juice.
"These kinda shows could be dangerous; short-tempered vendors, trigger-happy nutcases lookin' to make a quick buy or sell…"
"Sounds like most o' Hell…" Ayden shrugged as she took another sip of her juice.
"And Moxxie, curse his big heart, he's… well he's just- he doesn't-" Millie started to struggle to voice what she was thinking before Ayden cut in with a blunt,
"He c'n be a complete dag who gets walked all over fer bein' too polite?"
"...In a word yes." Millie admitted after a few seconds before adding, "Plus he can get a little too wrapped up in his own mind when it comes to showin' off what he knows and I was just wonderin'-"
"Ya want me to keep an eye on'im." Ayden cut her off, already knowing what she was trying to ask.
"Y-yeah…?" Millie stuttered out, confused as to how she knew what she was about to ask.
"'At was the plan." Ayden spoke plainly before she finished up her juice and went to put the cup in the sink as Millie asked,
"Really? Why?"
"Ya've got your reasons for bein' protective and I've got mine…"
"Alright then…" Millie was a little put off by Ayden's terse answer before shaking it off to remind her,
"Ya better go get ready. Might wanna have some Souls ready and don't forget your Glock."
Ayden nodded before going over to the mini drawer set hidden beside the couch that she'd been given for her rare change of clothes and a few other belongings she managed to get for herself since she didn't have to strictly budget her paychecks anymore.
After a short while of getting things prepped, Ayden and Moxxie were on their way to the event in a taxi that was practically a death trap on wheels from how much it was screeching and rattling, swinging around while turning, and bumping along the road so much worse than even Blitzø's van.
Ayden was wearing some black frayed-edge shorts and a red crop-top t-shirt with a black comet on the front and a red flannel tied around her waist with her satchel on her back and her Glock in its holster on the side of her leg while Moxxie was carrying a large rucksack nearly the size of him loaded to the brim with what looked like every single gun he owned.
"Why d'ya gotta bring aaaaall o' those?" Ayden questioned critically as she tightened her grip on the doorframe and seat when the taxi made a swerving turn that nearly threw her out the window if the seatbelt hadn't actually done its job.
"There's a weaponsmith at one of the refurbishing stalls who's said to be the very best in the nine circles." Moxxie answered while patting the rucksack, also tightening his grip on the sack and door with each sheer curve, as he added, "These've been seeing a lot of wear and tear since I joined I.M.P. so I wanna have'em fixed up."
"Why did ya join I.M.P.?" Ayden questioned after a moment of processing but Moxxie was cut off from answering when the taxi drifted harshly into a parallel park and the driver yelled,
"Stop's here, get off!"
"Thank you.. good sir..?" Moxxie gave the driver the Souls for the ride fare with hesitant genteel which was snatched out of his hand before he and Ayden got off and stood in front of a large colosseum-like building with a large banner that read "Lock 'N Load Expo" and outside a long line of Sinners, Imp, Hellhounds, and other Hellborns trailed out for blocks.
"I ain't waitin' in that line." Ayden deadpanned about to turn away when a hand was placed on her shoulder to stop her.
"Did I mention how I managed to score VIP passes?" Moxxie bragged a bit as he pulled out his phone with his other hand and led the two of them over to the two Hellhound bouncers at the front of the line as he told them while showing them his phone,
"Two please."
About to walk in between them when one of the bouncers stopped him and demanded,
"Entrance fee."
"But the VIP passes exempt the entrance fee." Moxxie argued.
"Well I'm not standing out here for free so either pay up or get lost!" The other bouncer loomed over Moxxie threateningly before Ayden got in between them as she growled,
"He said we don't gotta pay extra… so let us in o' else…"
The bouncer bent down to be face-to-face with her as he scoffed,
"Or else what, Whiskers?"
Ayden smirked before turning away to yell out to the demons in line,
"Free admission for the first 10 inside!"
Within seconds, the demons in line started to mob toward the door and the two bouncers had to hold them back, giving Ayden and Moxxie a chance to slip inside with her flipping off the bouncers as she yelled back,
"Yeh! Stuff it!"
As soon as the two of them made it to the inner area where countless tables, stalls, and booths were set up with other demons already browsing around, they were able to stop running to catch their breaths as Moxxie noted while panting,
"That was haah insane, did you haah pick that up from Blitzø?"
"Nah 't was a trick.. an old friend.. used ta pull ta get us into places…" Ayden answered, trailing off with sad nostalgia in her tone and on her face.
Moxxie was about to ask more when Ayden questioned after surveying the area quickly,
"That the guy you we'e goin' on 'bout?"
She pointed to a stall where a Sinner with a tortoise-like appearance but with six arms instead of two with different types of hands, some claw-tipped and some tool-tipped, and his shell looked more like armor than carapace material. He looked to be working on a gun in his stall from the way he was hunched over with a multi-layered magnifying loupe over one of his eyes while his graying hair was in a topknot.
"I think so! Come on!" Moxxie excitedly expressed before hurrying over, as quickly as he could with the large pack, with Ayden following before they made it and Moxxie greeted the vendor,
"Greetings Mr….?"
"Aibou…" The Sinner gruffly introduced himself as he used two hands to wipe the counter off, two to wipe the grease off his hands, and the last two to finish reassembling the gun and handing it off to his imp assistant who then passed it to the plant-lady Sinner who owned the gun before she paid up and left.
"Mr. Aibou, I was hoping you would refurbish some guns of mine." Moxxie pulled the rucksack off his back and heaved it onto the work table.
Peeking around the sack, Aibou told him frankly,
"This'll cost ya at least 300 Souls."
"Oh uhh I only brought 250." Moxxie admitted meekly.
"Do all o'em need ta be fixed?" Ayden questioned him as she put a paw to her hip and Aibou followed the movement to see the Glock at her side, making him scratch his chin before he questioned,
"You any good with that Glock?"
"I mean sorta…?" Ayden pulled it out of its holster to shrug hesitantly before Aibou snatched it from her and examined it despite Ayden's protest.
"Hmmm recoil spring assembly's only a tad worn… safety mechanisms are still in optimal condition… worth 400 Souls at least… how'd you feel about a trade?"
"Whaddya ya mean?" Ayden questioned with her eyes narrowed while Moxxie looked on anxiously as tension started to build.
"You give me this gun and I give your friend here a discount on the repairs and throw in one of my original creations."
"Not gonna happen…" Ayden snatched her Glock back to holster it when the sounds of surprised gasps and quiet exclamations sounded from the demons around them.
"Ooooh…"
"Did she just reject Aibou's offer?"
"She fuckin' nuts…?"
"Oh here we go…"
Aibou rose slowly from his seat before walking around the worktable to get right in Ayden's face to mildly threaten,
"You want my advice kid? Take the deal, you're not gonna find any better deals around here with my quality of work."
"Humble a'en't we…?" Ayden snarked, not backing down from the attempted intimidation.
"Now now th-there's no need for hostility I'm sure we can come to a reasonable agreement." Moxxie got in between the two of them before trying to reason with her, "Ayden, you could probably find a better gun here and-"
"I don' want 'nother gun, I like this one…" Ayden cut him off curtly.
"Fine then take it and don't bother coming to me for future services." Aibou turned away and went to sit back behind the worktable before moving to push Moxxie's rucksack off the table when Ayden snapped a paw against it to keep it from moving.
"You'e not gettin' outta a challenge that easy…" Ayden dared to push back making Aibou raise an eyebrow and grunt back,
"Oh really?"
"Yeh really."
"Well then, what's the challenge?"
"Seems like 'here's a lotta games set up 'lready," Ayden gestured with a thumb to the lines of mini shooting ranges and target practices before offering, "so pick one for me to play and if I win it, you give my friend here the discount for all the repairs and I still get that ''riginal creation.'"
"Fine, but if you lose, I get your gun and all of his." Aibou negotiated, making Moxxie jump in shock about to voice his protests when Ayden spoke up,
"Deal."
"Ayden!" Moxxie exclaimed panicked at the turn of events before Aibou snapped his fingers and his imp assistant took Moxxie's rucksack off the worktable to keep him from taking it back before Aibou and Ayden walked off toward the set-up games leaving Moxxie behind to gape at what just happened before he managed to shake off the shock to follow them.
"What shall it be…?" Aibou questioned no one in particular as he surveyed the shooting games that were set up before listing, "Stop that Soul? Crackshot Capers? Spirit Sniper? Aaah… this one."
He stopped in front of a large shooting gallery booth that was set up to be a semi-large room missing a fourth wall and a fence barring it off while the gallery itself was set up to look like a human neighborhood while 5 strobe lights, 2 on the left and 3 on the right side of the fence, were laid out.
"'Karmic Mark.'" Moxxie read the name off the board hanging above their heads.
"Uhh what?" Ayden questioned, not knowing what the first word meant.
"Win this game, you win the bet." Aibou reminded her before the imp game operator whose name tag read "Jim" was woken up from his nap where he was sitting in front of the fence border to drone the rules,
"Shoot the Do-gooders, spare the Sinners."
'How ironic…' Ayden thought to herself before Jim continued,
"Shoot the wrong ones twice and you're out."
"I thought it w's three strikes?"
"Want me to make it one?" Jim snapped impatiently.
"Two strikes got it… geez…" Ayden muttered while rolling her eyes and she stood at the line and got her Glock out of its holster, checking really quick to make sure it was fully loaded, and stood at the line behind the fence in a shooting stance.
Jim fist punched the red button on the wall behind him and a bunch of large popups resembling humans doing different things to classify them as Do-gooders and Sinners popped up, each with targets on either their heads or chests, before going back into hiding behind the houses, fences, and cars before the light turned off leaving the booth slightly darkened, making it harder to view the figures.
Some janky soundtrack music started to play from an old boombox in an attempt to add suspense and Ayden's tail whipped around as she readied to fire on the right target.
*CHINK!*
A popup of a woman planting a tree popped up and Ayden fired and landed on the outer rings of the target on her chest.
*PEW!*
*DING!*
The popup retracted as a green light bathed the whole booth as a sign of victory before turning off.
"W's t'at it?" Ayden asked with an eyebrow raised in confusion before Jim, Aibou, and the demons watching from the sides laughed as Jim answered,
"That was the practice round."
"What?!" Ayden and Moxxie chorused in disbelief.
"Round 1 of 3." Jim announced as one of the strobe lights on the right lit up blue to represent the first round being played.
*CHINK!* *CHINK!* *CHINK!*
Three popups appeared, two of them being Sinners, so Ayden only fired once.
*PEW!*
*DING!*
Ayden took a deep breath, trying to calm her nerves as she lined the rear sight of the Glock with her eye line as a Do-Gooder pop-up sprang up and she shot it in one of the outer lines of the target, still within range to be considered shot by inches.
*CHINK!* *CHINK!*
*PEW!*
*DING!* *DING!*
*CHINK!* *CHINK!* *CHINK!*
*PEW!* *PEW!*
*DING!* *DING!* *DING!*
Before she knew it, the first round was over and Ayden was halfway through the second, more speedy, round with plenty of close calls on the fast-moving dummies but still on a streak of not missing any targets.
Some other demons had heard the shots and came to watch the ongoing challenge.
''Lmost there..' Ayden thought to herself as she readied for the last round of the second round.
*CHINK!* *CHINK!*
*PEW!*
"Shite!" Ayden hissed as she accidentally shot at a quick-moving popup of a Sinner man running down the street with a Molotov cocktail in his hand while laughing instead of the Do-Gooder Girl Scout selling candy bars for rainforest restoration.
*ERRRR!*
One of the strobe lights on the left side lit up red to represent a strike just before-
*PEW!*
"AH!" Ayden clutched her arm where she was shot by a pop-up dispenser that came up from behind the fence to shoot at her before retreating.
"Oh crumbs!" Moxxie exclaimed worriedly at the glowing blood that started to flow from between Ayden's digits before turning to Jim to yell lividly, "The Heaven was that?!"
"'Karmic Mark,' shoot the wrong one and karma gets ya." Jim shrugged, unphased by his anger or her injury.
"One more miss and you lose." Aibou smirked with a cocky tone as he crossed his arms making Ayden hiss and Moxxie growl before he turned back to Ayden to tell her,
"That's enough, you don't have to do this!"
"You pull out now, you lose." Aibou pointed out indifferently.
"'M good, I got this…" Ayden tried to cover up the pain with confidence as she wiped her paw on her flannel to get it back in ready position with her Glock again but her paws shook a bit from the pain in her arm.
"At least a time out to cover the wound." Moxxie bargained and Jim shrugged before hitting the button.
"Ya got one minute." He told Moxxie as he untied his bowtie to use the fabric as a makeshift bandage wrap as she protested,
"You di'n't hafta-"
"And you didn't have to accept this challenge." Moxxie cut her off to retort as he finished carefully cleaning the blood away with Ayden's flannel so he could wrap the wound.
"'M sorry… But 'm not givin' this up." Ayden held up the Glock to emphasize as she told him, "I can't give it up…"
The look in Ayden's eyes as she emphasized that was quiet desperation and Moxxie looked down, unsure how to process that before Jim cleared his throat and tapped his wrist to signal the nearing end of the timeout so Moxxie gave Ayden some advice,
"Remember; shooting is more than just what's seen, go with your gut feeling and use your other senses, there's always a pattern to guide your aim, find it."
Ayden nodded before she went to stand back at the line as Jim hit the button to resume the game and Moxxie went to stand by Aibou again.
The third strobe light on the right side lit up to signal the third and final round as the music was sped up so fast it could hardly be considered music anymore and the onlooker demons were all whispering their doubts about Ayden winning.
Despite that, Ayden closed her eyes and let out a deep breath, focusing on the area in front of her right before her ear twitched at the sound of two separate mechanisms loading, one being a deeper pitch than the other.
*CHINK!* *CHINK!*
*PEW!*
*DING!*
Two popups appeared so Ayden's eyes snapped open and she shot once at the one that had sounded deeper before, hitting the bullseye on the Do-Gooder target of a woman giving away Valentine's bouquets for free.
'Yes!' Ayden thought excitedly before shaking her head to focus up as the round continued.
*CHINK!* *CHINK!* *CHINK!*
*PEW!* *PEW!* *PEW!*
*DING!* *DING!*
*CHINK!* *CHINK!*
*PEW!*
*DING!*
*CHINK!* *CHINK!* *CHINK!* *CHINK!*
*PEW!* *PEW!*
*DING!* *DING!*
*CHINK!* *CHINK!*
*PEW!*
*DING!* *DING!* *DING!*
By the end of the round, Ayden was panting in exhaustion and her ears were hurting from all the twitching and loud bullet shots before Jim announced dully,
"Winner winner charcoal dinner…"
He hit a green button that made a mini fanfare play and Ayden smirked as she holstered her Glock to face Aibou as she snarked,
"Deal's a deal.. 'less this whole thing was just to bullshit the fact ya can't fix that m'ny guns in a day an' yer creations are crap."
Making the on-lookers turn to Aibou to see what he'd do before he huffed,
"They'll be ready by the end of the day…"
"Heh…" Ayden gave a short chuckle as she dipped her head slightly before Aibou left to get to work and the crowd of demons started to disperse back to their own businesses.
"Well that's gonna take a while so whaddya say we go check out the rest o' the place til then?" Ayden directed to Moxxie hooking a thumb behind her at the countless other booths and stalls, some of them even promising food.
Despite his initial surprise at Ayden's ability to easily brush off that tense encounter, he hesitantly nodded and Ayden motioned for him to lead the way as his excitement started to bubble back up.
The next few hours were spent looking at other types of guns, accessories, tools, and various other products; Moxxie had gotten new cleaning kits for his and Millie's weapons and Ayden managed to find someone who could engrave her "A.A.A." initials on the bottom of the handle of her Glock.
When it was handed back to her, Moxxie questioned,
"Does it really mean that much to you because Blitzø gave it to you?"
The question made Ayden freeze for a second before she reholstered it and answered hesitantly,
"'T's not jus' that… he gave'it ta me as a gift… first one I w's given in a.. while…"
"I'm sorry, I didn't know it meant that much to you…" Moxxie apologized and Ayden looked down before admitting,
"Eve'ything you guys give me, I keep cause.. I'm 'fraid that, one day, you'll all leave and… I'll have nothin' ta remember you all by..."
"Hey we're not going anywhere and this stuff isn't the only thing you get from us, you've got memories with us…"
Moxxie placed a hand on Ayden's shoulder before she jokingly scoffed,
"Wow… that w's supa co'ny."
"Hey speaking of…" Moxxie pointed back at a stall offering black and dark red puffs of popcorn in different sized long clear bags and Ayden's eyes widened as a bit of drool started to drip from the corner of her mouth.
After Moxxie bought a bag for himself and Ayden, a voice over the loudspeakers announced that the expo was closing in 10 minutes so they decided to head back over to Aibou's stall to get their stuff.
"Here's all your stuff fixed up…" Aibou grumbled as he handed over the rucksack full of weapons and Moxxie paid the 200 Souls final price after the victory discount Ayden was able to cash in before handing her a large paper bag that was rolled up at the top.
"The fuck's this?"
"As promised, original creations of mine; trick bullets."
"'Trick bullets?'" Ayden opened the bag and saw multiple bullet cartridge boxes, each color-coded to what they did.
"Oh my crumbs…" Moxxie took a look and gawked at the types of trick bullets within, "Acid, explosive, vibrational, ice-"
"Ok I get it, lotta bullets." Ayden cut him off as she rolled the bag closed again to put it away in her satchel, pulling her flannel on from around her waist while she was at it, as Aibou mentioned,
"They've been fitted for your Glock 17, use'em wisely."
He turned away from them to start taking down his stall like the other booth operators so Ayden and Moxxie headed out to catch a taxi back to Millie and Moxxie's apartment.
Luckily they managed to get a driver who was only slightly road-rage crazy so the ride back wasn't as chaotic and nauseating as it had been on their way there.
That gave Moxxie the opportunity to answer the question Ayden had asked before,
"I joined I.M.P. because I admired Blitzø's ambition. Granted there are times where he drives me so far up the wall I may as well be diving off the roof hurtling towards the street during Rush Hour."
"Pft!" Ayden scoffed with a slight laugh at the analogy before Moxxie continued,
"But he helped me out of a tough spot I was going through and… I'll always be grateful to him for that…"
Ayden smiled since she felt the same with all of I.M.P. right before the taxi jolted to a stop making her smack her forehead against the passenger seat and Moxxie's knapsack was jerked back onto him, nearly crushing him under its weight.
"'Ey! What the fuck man?!" Ayden shouted indignantly at the driver as she rubbed the red mark on her forehead.
"You're stop's here… so take your weepy fest outta here…" The driver responded dully.
"We're not-grrr!" Moxxie and Ayden chorused before growling in frustration as they got out of the taxi and slammed the doors behind them.
"Get stuffed! Hrrrr…" Ayden flipped him off as he sped away before she and Moxxie headed inside.
Once they made it inside, they saw Millie in her night robe sitting at the table casually sipping from her mug but they were shocked to see her hair sticking up wildly as if it'd been caught in a tornado along with some scratches and a bruise forming on her face.
"Millie!"
Moxxie dropped the rucksack to rush over to his wife but she just sighed and waved her hand to dismiss his concern with a calm,
"Haah! Moxxie I'm fine… Shoulda seen me right when I got back b'fore I cleaned up."
"What the Heaven happened?"
"You know how I went to help with my neighbor's barn raising?"
"Yeees…?"
"Well most o' the frame was already up we just needed to raise the barn face so the others could nail it in place but then one'a the neighbor's kids let go of his side, it fell down, a fight broke out and uhhh…" Millie stopped herself before she got too far into the gory details and changed the subject, "ehhh you don't wanna hear 'bout my boring day, how was the gun show?"
After a few moments of disbelief, Moxxie managed to shake off the surprise to say,
"It was.. fun.. I'm gonna go put these all away now."
He went back over to retrieve his dropped rucksack to put all the weapons away in his and Millie's room, leaving her and Ayden alone.
Soon enough, Ayden was putting her Glock and her new bullet sets away in her drawer set when Millie noted,
"Well you and Mox seem to be better acquainted."
"Yeh, wa'n't so bad 'fter a while." Ayden admitted, about to take off her flannel before she asked,
"Hey the bandages still in the bathroom?"
"Yeah why?"
Ayden didn't answer and headed to the bathroom with Millie following out of worry which only spiked when she took off her flannel, which she barely noticed that it was blood-stained on its side, to reveal the makeshift dressing over the bullet wound on her arm making Millie exclaim,
"What the fuck happened?!"
"Eh jus' some o' those dickwads ya wa'ned me 'bout…" Ayden shrugged as she unwrapped Moxxie's bowtie from the wound and got to work using the first aid kit to clean and bandage it when Millie asked,
"Why don't you just use your fire powers ta heal it?"
"I only wanna use'it if I really hafta, I c'n deal with somethin' small like this."
Within a minute, her wound was covered and taken care of and Ayden had changed into her pj's to get ready to go to sleep when Millie was found sitting on the couch waiting for her.
"Oh boy 'ere it comes…" Ayden muttered with a hint of goodheartedness that mixed with the sarcastic eye roll touch.
"What?" Millie questioned, genuinely curious as to what she meant.
"Wheneva you do that," Ayden gestured to the position she was in before continuing, "'T usually means ya wanna talk, so what's it this time?"
She plopped down on the couch next to her before Millie asked,
"Earlier you said you had your own reasons for wantin' ta protect Moxxie…"
"Yeh…?"
"Why's that…?"
Ayden looked down at her paws before placing one on her choker as she started to explain,
"'T's cause… he reminds me of how I used ta be… as Ally…"
"Oh…" Millie's pupils shrunk a bit at hearing that, only having heard that Ayden used to be called Ally from Blitzø and Moxxie after the whole D.H.O.R.K.S. ordeal, but she hadn't said any more about it.. until now…
"Yeh… I used ta be a little more trustin'... wantin' to see the best in people.. willin' to stay no matter what cause I really wanted to b'lieve that the people who hurt me.. ca'ed 'bout me…" Ayden brought her knees up to her chest to hug them as she recalled her past but didn't fully voice it.
Mille glanced through her peripheral vision to see a bit of white hair peeking out from the corner of the hallway before expressing to Ayden,
"Well I'm glad you both got to know each other a bit more…"
She reached over, about to gently ruffle her hair, when she suddenly threw her head back and groaned loudly frustrated,
"Ah! Why do I want to tell you ev'rything ev'ry time we do this?!"
"Cause you're learning to trust again.." Millie managed to get in a comforting placement of her hand on her paw before she stood and walked away leaving her with one final thought,
"And we appreciate you're choosin' to trust us… little bit at a time…"
Ayden peeked over, a little confused at the 'us' part, before she saw Moxxie standing there giving a small wave with a sheepish grin that Ayden just ruefully smiled at before stating with faux bluntness,
"Ok I'm ti'ed now, g'night."
Before she flopped down on the couch and spread the blanket over her to fake being asleep.
Millie giggled a little before she and Moxxie retreated to their bedroom for the night and Ayden sighed as she turned on her side, ready to fall asleep when-
"~Awwww that was real sweet Kid.~"
Snapping her eyes open she saw a pair of yellow and red eyes watching her from the kitchen.
"BLITZØ?!"
…
…
…
AN- First mini-bonding story! Thanks again asweriseup on AO3 for the request, hope it was worth it ^^
A few trivia and references made here in case you didn't catch them (mostly cause a lot of these are really obscure references ^^; )
- Aibou was a reference to the weaponsmith in the Kino No Tabi 2017 anime
- I based the "Karmic Mark" game off the shooting range game played in Minecraft Story Mode Season 2 Episode 2 "Giant Consequences," a video game I miss very deeply : '(
- "Winner winner charcoal dinner" is a little reference to Disney's Elemental
I'm still working on Season 2, I haven't been able to work on it much cause of homework and projects for school, plus I'm still trying to figure out how to slowly introduce more of Ayden's past in Season 2 so that I don't repeat my bad habit of info dumping in the 2 part original episodes ^^;
On that note, who's ready for Halloween on Tuesday?! I don't care if I'm 21 or 70, I'm dressing up ^^ this year I'm "Otter with a Dark Side" from The Owl House to kinda honor how it ended *ahem* wrongfully canceled *ahem* earlier this year, maybe next year I'll dress up as someone from Helluva Boss or Hazbin Hotel. Let me know if you're dressing up and, if so, as what :D
Speaking of which, who else is excited for the "MAMMON'S MAGNIFICENT MUSICAL MID-SEASON SPECIAL (ft Fizzarolli)" episode that could be dropping either later today or on Halloween?! I'm really hoping for possibly some backstory on how Ozzie and Fizz met, maybe some more Blitzø and Fizz interaction, and especially some Stolas and Blitzø interaction but we'll see how it goes…
Until the next chapter, Bye!