Loona continued her way back to I.M.P as she held Balin in the safe and furry embrace of her arms.

The little boy was actually enjoying the ride as he could still see all the different species of demons roaming the streets.

While there were some imps and hellhounds, monstrous or trickster as they looked, there were demons who had well-earning jobs. Some of them who still had strange forms and powers such as Earth, water, and fire.

All the same, Balin was still a little scared they'd hurt him. But luckily he had his new caretaker to protect him, as his arms were wrapped around her soft fur, melting everyone melt around him, including his worries. ...As long as his resting head was away from the spiky collar around her neck.

Loona then noticed the boy continuing looking in awe at the streets of Imp City, and smiled.

"I take it you like our neighbourhood?" she asked.

"Yeah. Looks kinda cool." Balin replied.

The hellhound then spotted something across the street he'd find marvellous, and moved some of her hair so he could see.

"Hey, Balin, see those demons over there?" Loona pointed over to a formation of demons.

These demons were in four rows of two, floating side by side along the street like a school of fish.

"Wow..." Balin's eyes widened in amazement.

"Sometimes, when people die in groups and are sent here, they're bound together by rope for eternity, moving from place to place like the rack of clothes they are."

Explaining all this, Loona felt Balin shivering a little.

"Ooh shit..." she muttered. "Sorry."

"It's okay, Loona. I still think it's... awesome." replied the boy. He could not believe he said that.

"Glad to hear, kiddo." chuckled Loona, as she ruffled his hair before covering him with more of hers for shelter. And warmth.

CUT TO I.M.P...

Soon, Loona arrived at I.M.P, successfully proving her promise of watching over Balin.

Once inside, she looked to see Balin was snoozing with his head on her shoulder and her hair covering his body like a blanket.

Loona thought he looked so adorable all cozied up like this. Which was rare, because her hair was so sensitive, the closest anyone would get to touching it was the upper fangs in her muzzle.

She soon saw the vending machine next to the receptionist desk filled with snacks and cold drinks, and decided to grab a little something for the two. She did need a dessert after working up a massacre appetite anyway.

Grabbing out two quarters from her pocket, while still carrying Balin in her other arm, she pressed the numbers '1' and '4' for a vanilla lemonade for Balin and some crisps for herself.

As she waited for them to come out of the machine, Loona gently patted Balin's back to wake him up.

"Hey kiddo, I just got you a drink from the vending machine if you'd like one." she smiled.

"Thank you Loona." he said returning the smile, as the drink and crisps came out of the machine.

While Balin started drinking away at the lemonade, Loona grabbed the crisps, swiped a packet of chilli from the boozy security guard's desk, tore a hole in both packets with her claw, then mixed the crisps with the chilli making her own Frito pie.

"Alright Balin." she spoke with a mouthful. "My dad and his associates are on the top floor of the building. The elevator's getting fixed at the moment, so it's gonna be a long walk. I want you standing close to me at all times, even when we're outside, okay?"

"I will, Loona." replied Balin. "But... what if someone sees me?"

"Then how about you hold my hand." said Loona, extending her free paw out to him.

Balin tried to reach it, but it was like trying to catch a hat from a bully.

"I can't!" grunted the boy. "You're too tall."

Loona once again laughed at how innocent this kid was. Seeing him try to catch her hand was an adorable sight for, since she was the size of Bigfoot.

She then came up with a better solution, to let him hold onto her beefy leg for safety. It may have looked a little crooked this way, not to mention embarrassing, but this was Loona. If there was one thing she wasn't, like a hugger or a feelings person, it was judgy.

"Okay little buddy, let's get moving." smiled Loona, as the two began walking up the stairs and through the halls.

MEANWHILE...

The imps were still celebrating their victory from the high school massacre in the board room, with the table decorated with beer, wine, and not to mention, cake.

Blitzø then made a toast. "First of all, I just wanna say a big thank you to the client who provided us the money for these targets, which we then spent on this food straight after."

Moxxie just rolled his eyes hearing that part.

"Secondly!" he continued. "I have a valuable team member I'd personally love to thank. A real teammate who stuck with us thick and thin in the process of this mission. Scratch that, of any mission since she joined the company. Although she's not here right now, I consider this employee family to me, because she actually is. And that family is Loona!"

"Yay Loona!" shouted Millie.

"ShUt ThE fUcK uP!" said Moxxie, impersonating Loona with a silly voice by using his hands as her ears and howling.

Millie couldn't help but giggle at this impersonation, while Blitzø tried to compose himself with his mouth wide open.

"Oh yeah, howl it up Moxx, I'm sure she'll be happy with this." he slow-clapped sarcastically, before moving onto a naughty trick. "Anywho, you wanna do the honours of slicing the cake? Pick any cake."

Blitzø then showed two vanilla-frosted cakes. One of them looked a little clumpy for some reason.

"Ooh, don't mind if I do, sir." Moxxie then grabbed a carving knife from Blitzø and began slicing one of them.

Millie, however, stopped the boss as he was about to sneak away.

"Sir, what flavour is that other cake?" she asked sternly.

"What are you talking about? It's vanilla, everyone loves vanilla?" Blitzø chuckled nervously.

"Need I remind you, no-one enjoys vanilla more than my Moxxie does?"

"So you're saying, your husband's bland?"

Millie then went from stern to angry, making Blitzø crack under peer pressure.

"OK, OK! Fuck it! One of them isn't vanilla!" he moaned. "I wanted to teach him a lesson for his attitude towards my Loonie lately. A more friendly alternative, if I may say so!"

It was then Moxxie threw one of the cakes at Blitzø, the not-vanilla cake, slamming it in his head.

"HA!" chuckled Moxxie. "I figured you'd do something like this to me sir. Who else is stupid enough to organise two cakes in the exact flavour? When one of them isn't a flavour at all?!"

Moxxie then left the board room with Blitzø frozen and humiliated, as Millie then seethed at him like a honey badger.

"Someone call grounds for sexual violence on his ass."

"It's not sexual violence if it comes from you, sir!" shouted Moxxie from the other side, as he took a bite of his real vanilla cake.

Soon, Loona kicked down the door loudly, making Moxxie fly off the couch.

"AGH! What the fuck!"

"'kay, I'm back." she announced sarcastically.

Balin wasn't with her, but was outside the office waiting for her word to come in, while she walked into the board room.

"Ah, Loona. Glad you could make it back just in time." Blitzø said wagging his demon tail in happiness.

"Yeah, yeah, sorry I bailed." said Loona flatly as she sat down straight. "But party's over, dipshit! The squirt's awake."

"OK. Well where is the little scamp then?" he asked.

Millie then searched everywhere on Loona's body trying to find him, even up her tail.

"Yeah... wouldn't be up there."

Loona then tugged her tail back from Millie and brushed it with her claws.

"He's out in the waiting area, out of plain sight, just to be safe." she answered them.

"Then, can't we meet him?" Moxxie then asked, flicking some cake off his face.

"In a moment, fatty." replied Loona through her teeth. "Before that, I have some ground rules I want you guys to follow. Very carefully."

"Whatever you say Loonie. Anyway you want it, that's the way you'll get it." Blitzø nudged her hips with his elbow, which really annoyed her.

"How many times have I told you not to touch me like that? Sit down!"

And just like that, the three imps then sat next to each other with Loona in front.

"Now let me be clear on what's gonna happen. Because if he ever gets into trouble during his stay, the only ones I'm not telling the rules to again are you three fucking dopes."

"During his stay?" Moxxie whispered to himself.

"First thing's first, I'mma bring him into the office. And once you four meet, I want you three introducing yourselves to him. Nicely! While he's here, I do not want any of you scaring him, telling him any disgusting jokes, or fighting with each other in front of him! So treat him like he's a goddamn VIP guest!" Loona then yelled the last bit digging her claws into the table. "DO YOU UNDERSTAND?!"

The imps then nodded fast in fear.

"Lucifer fucking Morningstar, Loona. We'll all do our bit, okay?" Moxxie then replied in fear, before Loona pointed one claw at him.

"HEY! We are also gonna work on that language of ours when we're around him." she continued. "I don't want him starting a swearing pandemic when he returns home."

"Understood Loona. We'll treat him like the luckiest boy in the chocolate factory." said Blitzø nervously.

"You better behave yourself most, Blitzø." whispered Loona, before she took a few sniffs of him. "Eww, why do you smell like salt and vinegar?"

"He tried bean-boozing me with the celebration cake, and let's just say, I'm being filed." Moxxie said as he and his wife left the office.

Loona then pinched her snout at her adopted dad's behaviour. "Blitzø, you are truly and will always be gross."

Hearing that, Blitzø actually took it to heart. He was called way worse.

"But I guess now, I'll have to clean your ass for the twerp. Hold still." she continued, closing the door and grabbing Blitzø with both paws. "Uh, Loonie? What are you...?"

Moxxie and Millie were listening into the door to see what the commotion was, until they started hearing slurping and squirming noises. Moxxie figured out what those noises were and took off his tidy uniform to throw up in the nearest trash-can.

After all that, Blitzø stepped outside the board room looking clean, having no idea what he just experienced.

"Now that was... actually quite refreshing." he shrugged to himself.

A FEW MOMENTS LATER...

Soon, the three imps all stood in Loona's requested formation, standing a few feet away from the door that Loona had hammered back together with her bare hands from outside the office.

Afterwards, she walked over to Balin in the waiting area.

"Ready to meet everyone?" she kneeled down to his level smiling.

"Uh-huh." the boy responded.

He stood up with a nearly shaking feeling in his feet, mainly from his swollen ankle. Loona could sense he was scared, but she decided to let him have the nerves until he at least gained their trust.

Loona then walked back into the office, opening the door with her paw on the handle.

"Everyone, this is Balin Johnson." she smiled, as the surprised imps then looked down to see the human boy shivering behind Loona's leg. "It's okay, Balin. I'd like to introduce you to my... colleagues."

Balin then stood up straight from Loona's leg and showed a nervous smile.

"G'day... everyone."

"Hello there, Balin!" the three imps then greeted him with a lot of energy.

"Pleasure to meet you, kiddo." said Blitzø, kneeling down to him. "My name's Blitzø, the O is silent."

"Why is the 'O' silent?" he asked, tilting his head in confusion.

This made everyone hesitate a little, including Loona.

"Yeah... I used to have it back when I was your age, but..." the imp now felt awkward talking about this, until he switched up the conversation. "But don't worry, I'm just getting carried away. You'll find out when you're older."

"Is it adult stuff?" the boy asked again.

"Oh yeah." replied Loona, patting his back gently. "Trust me, kiddo."

"But still, it's nice to meet you. We rarely had a human kid like yourself meet us here." Blitzø continued as he shook Balin's hand with a firm but gleeful grip.

"It's my pleasure to meet you too, Mr. Blitzø." smiled the boy, having earned his trust first.

"Ah, no need for any 'Mr.'s kid, you can just call me Blitzø." The boss then spoke to the married couple. "M , get your... butts over here! Your turn!"

Moxxie then walked up to the kid and knelt to his level too.

"Heya Balin, I'm Moxxie." "And I'm Millie." they both said individually.

"Hello." Balin replied.

"Awwwww." cooed Millie, rubbing his face softly with one hand. "What a cute little human you are, sweetie-pie."

"Welcome to I.M.P, the Immediate Murder Pro..." Moxxie was about to finish, until Millie covered his mouth looking up at Loona.
"We're also pleasured to meet you, don't be intimidated by the name, sugar." she chuckled nervously.

"Nah, we're cool. I told him all about this place before coming over here. Didn't I, Balin?"

The boy agreed with a nervous nod.

"Hey, what's the matter buckeroo?" Blitzø asked wrapping an arm around the boy's neck.

"BLITZØ!" shouted Loona, before calming down again. "He's a little shy after what he just witnessed, can you give him some space?"

"Okay, okay, sorry." said Blitzø, rubbing his shoulder. "You don't have to worry about us. We're friends."

"I know, I'm fine." explained Balin. "It's just... I never thought I'd be talking to real demons. Never. I always thought Hell was a burning place and that demons were nothing but monsters. But Loona was so kind to me, she even told me how kind you guys are. And she was right. Really, I'm happy to meet all of you."

Loona couldn't help but blush, feeling moved and embarrassed.

"Well, my. What a polite young 'mate' you are." joked Blitzø. He tried his best to hold back his giggles, but everyone still looked at him with light glares.

"Did you still have to be weird, Blitzø?" asked Moxxie.

"Everyone's weird Moxx, this is Hell!" Blitzø answered back. "Get with the program."

"Maybe I would, if you'd treat me with a little more respect and valour in the future! Now is that so hard to do?!"

"Honestly, no." replied Blitzø, who then showed a little smirk to Moxxie.

Loona knelt down to the kid's level standing right next to him. "Don't worry buddy, you'll get used to what we do around here." she chuckled.

"You know, there's plenty to pick on in this world as well as the living one." insisted Moxxie. "And I'm okay being on the list, but 24/7?!"

"Uh, excuse me, do you know how hard it is in Hell to throw someone underneath a bus it doesn't have?" Blitzø snapped back.

Loona soon intervened to stop the fight. "Boys, boys, remember what I said before...?" she lifted them both by their shoulders with a kind but strict look on her face.

"Try not to fight with the kid around?" asked Blitzø questionably. "Keep it outside of work?" added Moxxie. Both of them were shocked at Loona's compassion for this kid.

Millie then stood in front of Balin for comfort, kneeling down at him again.

"So, demons aren't always monsters? You guys aren't...?"

"Yeah, we're not monsters." replied Millie with her sweet smile. "I mean, minus those two's fight, we may look scary but we're not."

"Millie's right sport, we won't hurt you." Moxxie then extended his hand in friendship. "So what do you say? Friends?"

Balin then looked up at Loona and Blitzø, who responded to him to take Moxxie's hand. The boy then walked over to Moxxie and shook his hand, while he also gave the kid a rub on his head.

"It's my honour to meet you too, kid." smiled Moxxie.

"Mine three. Thanks, Mr. Moxxie."

"Seriously honey, your manners." giggled Millie. "You can just call him Moxxie. *Gasps* Or maybe, Uncle Moxxie and Aunt Millie! I LOVE IT!" she then squealed at that idea.

"So Millie, how about your handshake now?" smirked Loona.

"Oh I have something else in store." grinned Millie, as she then spoke to Balin. "I think you, little Balin, deserve a reward for being so brave and polite as to acquaint yourself to us."

"A reward?" asked Balin with excitement. "What is it?"

"A hug..." Millie then picked him up into a cuddle. "A kiss..." she then gave him a very long but soft kiss on his cheek before sitting down on the couch with him.

"And... TICKLES!"

She then started tickling Balin's tummy underneath his blue and green t-shirt, causing him to laugh and laugh.

"HAHAHAHAHAHA! You're tickling me!" he laughed out loud. "HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

"Aww, are you ticklish, little baby?" Millie cooed. "Yes, you are. Yes, you are!"

Blitzø and Moxxie nodded to each other with a few chuckles as they watched the fun those two were having, and even Loona watched proudly with a smile too.

In fact, she thought it was so cute, she wanted to reward him too.

So as Millie continued tickling him... "MY TURN!" Loona pulled him over sitting on the couch too and began kissing all over his face, making him laugh some more and also making the imps shocked as fuck.

"Do you like the doggy kisses, lover-boy?" she chuckled. "Do ya?"

The two continued passing him back and forth for tickles and kisses until the kid had to pee. Soon, everyone was having the time of their life, including Loona.

A FEW MORE MOMENTS LATER...

After the tickle time, the gang walked into the office with the kid by their side.

Loona smiled seeing this kid hold Millie's hand as he walked, after all the fun he's been having so far, even though this was Hell.

Everyone in the office had fallen in love with this kid, including her.

Soon, Blitzø popped up next to her for a whisper.

"Wow Loonie, I didn't think you had it in you." he smiled. "All that love for a little boy? I'm so proud of you."

"Yeah, well, don't get used to seeing me do it." she grumbled. "I care about him, but I still have my dignity. So never tell anyone you saw that, unless I tell first."

"Of course, anything for my daughter."

"Only on paper." retorted Loona, as she sat down texting on her phone.

"So, Blitzø? Where do I sit?" asked Balin as he walked up to him.

"Oh, anywhere you want, Mr. VIP Guest." he replied. "You can even sit next to Loona if you want."

Loona looked up from her phone hearing her name being said, then warmly smiled knowing she'd love the kid to sit next to her. So she patted a seat for him to sit, as he anxiously walked over and sat next to her.

"So kid, you wanna tell us about yourself? What you were up to back at the school by yourself?" Blitzø asked him.

"Of course, if you want to, we'll be gentle." assured Moxxie, trying to make the moment comfortable. "It's never easy sharing these things."

The boy then gave his thanks to Moxxie for that, knowing that he felt comfortable after Loona asked him the first time. But he still struggled to find the words, until Loona had an idea to help him out.

"Hey Balin, would you like to play with my tail while you talk to us?" she asked him, making her tail wag back and forth on purpose. "You can if you want to. Anything to help."

Balin looked down at her big fluffy tail as it slowly wagged underneath her chair, and then nodded thinking that would be a great idea.

"There we go..." Loona said softly, as she gently grabbed it with her paws and wrapped it around his legs.

Soon, he started stroking it for good luck, making Moxxie and Millie shell-shocked. Moxx's tail wagged so fast, it flew off before Millie caught it and re-attached it to his body.

With a deep breath, Balin explained his story:

"Okay. Tonight, when I was about to go home to my hotel for the night, I heard the big fight going on at the school a few minutes away. So I walked over there and saw what scary things you guys were doing."

Feeling a little traumatised again, he gently stroked Loona's tail fur some more, while Blitzø raised his hand.

"A hotel? Why were you living in a hotel by yourself, Balin?" he asked.

"I've been living there since escaping my foster home." the boy answered, before Loona finished for him sensing his melancholy.

"His parents were sent to some safe house for some reason, and..."

"A safe house?" the three imps gasped, before Millie asked: "Why, a safe house?"

It then hit the first of Balin's many nerves, but he still wanted to keep going.

"You see, it all started, back home... when..."

A/N: Balin's backstory will be revealed in the next chapter.

See y'all then.