Tex was still sprinting on all fours to Loona's apartment with Balin on his back, who looked back to make sure Verosika wasn't on his tail.
"You all good up there?" he asked in a pant.
"I think we lost her, Tex!" replied Balin.
"Just hold on dude! We'll be home before you know it." he began barking like a guard dog in his normal voice as he kept running, making Balin laugh and keep his mind off her.
Meanwhile, Verosika kicked down the door of the I.M.P building and took off her go-go boots as she started chasing after them.
"Oh little human!" she sang again.
Soon, the two made it to Loona's apartment, running all the way upstairs until Tex skidded to a halt at Loona's room with his claws in the carpet. He then crouched down to let the little boy off as he ran straight to the door.
"Well, we'll just have to wait until Loona's back." panted Tex. "I bet she'll be quick. A mama wolf's gotta do what she does."
"What? Come on, Tex. Loona's not my mommy." Balin flushed bright red in the cheeks. "I already have one. We're just friends."
"I know, I'm only playing." chuckled Tex, giving the boy a gentle shoulder pat.
Soon, Balin then got an idea.
"Wait a minute. You're a giant doggy, right? Can't you just use one of your claws?" he suggested, pointing to Tex's sharp finger-nails.
"Kiddo, even around here, that's breaking and entering." he sounded shocked hearing this idea from the 7-year-old boy.
"But what was it you said about taking the blame for friends?" Balin asked with puppy-dog eyes. "And what about Verosika? I don't want her to take me away and eat me up."
"Aww, I'm sure she won't do that. Like I said, she loves kids." reminded Tex kindly, before a silence where he made a decision. "Yeah, alright. I'll give this a try."
The male hellhound then unsheathed one of his claws and began tweaking the lock, trying to find a way to unlatch it with breaking the nail. After 8 seconds, he managed to get it open and Balin started celebrating.
"Yes! We did it! Uh-huh, huh, huh! We did it!" sang Balin jumping for joy, while Tex rubbed his head in laughter.
"Oh sweetie... Mama can hear you..." Verosika called from a few bottoms down.
Tex grabbed the kid's body with both paws and carried him inside the room, then decided to hide him in his new room just in case.
"Huh, I like what you've done with the place." he admired the scene.
"Thanks. Loona's friends finished it while she and I were at my hometown yesterday." smiled Balin.
"Sounds cool. Did ya have fun?" Tex asked, with Balin giving him a nod. "Now just stay quiet in here until I give the word, okay?" he then spoke softly as he closed the door to Balin's room.
Tex tiptoed up to the see-through hole in the apartment door to see if Verosika was anywhere to be seen.
It was quiet for about 5 seconds until he saw some movement from the far left side of the hallway, which was indeed the succubus popstar searching from room to room for the kid.
So when she got closer to the room, about two doors, Tex then hid away from the door and kept quiet as to not let her hear his heavy breathing.
After searching the room, Verosika then searched two more doors before stopped and picked up a familiar smell from there, worrying the hell out of Tex as she sniffed there again.
He stayed quiet once more, not wanting her to freak out Balin any longer than she already was.
The suspense lasted 10 seconds until he heard her shrug, and slowly peaked back at the see-through hole to see her strutting away through the other side of the hallway.
With a sigh of relief, Tex then opened Balin's bedroom door.
"Alright kiddo, it's safe to come out." he warmly said.
But it wasn't.
Just then, Verosika kicked open the apartment door to see Balin next to a kneeling Tex.
The little boy cowered behind Tex's back for protection and the male hellhound wrapped his arm around him just in case.
"Aww Vortex." Verosika sighed in disappointment. "I should've guessed you had your own say in this."
"Ma'am! Stop this!" he scolded her with a growl. "You're scaring the hell outta this kid! Maybe that's why he doesn't wanna talk!"
"Vortex, he's a human! He needs to be dealt with, whether he's your little friend or not." Verosika snapped back quietly.
"No, NO! I don't want to be eaten up!" cried Balin as he hid from her, with Tex gently patting his back.
"Wh-What? Eat you up? Me?" Verosika was then stunned and confused by what he just said. "Eaten up? Sweetie, no, I don't wanna eat you up."
Balin still looked away from her. "I don't know if I can believe you." he quietly said in his nerves.
Verosika saw for the first time how scared he was and decided to cool down for him. She knelt down to their levels and now spoke in a delicate voice.
"Hey, I'm sorry, okay?" she then showed a sympathetic smile. "I won't hurt you. I wasn't trying to."
"You... you weren't?" the boy slightly looked at her a little, but only with his scared look.
"No." she replied softly. "I don't eat kids. I love kids."
"You do?"
"Yeah. They're so cute and little, and innocent and full of playful energy. Just like you I reckon, sweetie." she then showed more of her smile to him.
Balin then showed her a surprised look. "Really?"
BACK AT I.M.P:
Meanwhile, the I.M.P crew returned to the office with the Asmodean crystal, and Loona was the first to bolt through and out of the building, while everyone else continued running behind her.
LOONA'S APARTMENT:
"You see, Vortex?" continued Verosika. "I'm just trying to help. Who knows what could happen to my new little baby down here."
"I told you V, Loona's been taking care of him." Tex explained to her.
"Oh? So your mangy friend likes kids too?"
"Sort of...? It's complicated to her." he replied. "But she does like this one a good deal."
"I mean, who wouldn't?" Verosika then looked down at the kid again with her warm smile. "He's adorable. Aren't you, sweetie?"
Balin then blushed before he hid back into Tex's fur feeling the heat.
"Aww, look who's blush...ing..." she cooed a little before Tex gave her a lower-it-down expression with his hands. "Sorry, guess we don't know each other yet." she chuckled.
Tex soon shrugged a little, deciding to take her word for it, and turned back to the kid.
"You see, lil' man? What'd I tell ya?" he showed him a grin. "V loves kids."
"Human ones too?" the boy then asked.
"Yep. I do." smiled Verosika once more. "Wait... do we have someone from the Down Under?" she asked in a playful tone.
Balin then tilted his head in confusion, making Tex chuckle too.
"She means Australia, bud. You from around there?"
"Y-Yes." nodded Balin. "Have you been there before?"
"Nah, I'm still trying to set up a tour there." she replied next. "So how 'bout it? Just one hug?"
Balin looked at Tex, who then gave a shrug and a smile before putting him down. He was a little reluctant, but wanting to prove Loona right about how brave he was as well as polite, the human boy walked over to Verosika, who immediately picked him up and cradled him in her arms like a baby.
As she swayed him back and forth, she gently stroked his tummy with her hand, making him giggle a bit.
"Ooh, is someone ticklish?" cooed Verosika with a giggle too.
Tex still stood his ground just in case, but as Balin blushed trying to keep his blank expression, he soon started liking this moment too.
"So tell me sweetie. What made you think I'd wanna eat you?" asked the popstar.
"Loona's dad told me you to used to date and that I should stay away from you." the boy replied.
"Why?"
"Because he also told me that how succubus' like you lure kids with their charm, so they can eat them." he said, mispronouncing the word 'succubi.'
This made Verosika begin to seethe in anger, without the boy hearing it.
"Oh that boozy little dick did, did he?" she growled in her head, before giving Balin more affection. "Well, don't you worry, cutie-patootie. I won't hurt or gobble you up. Blitzo was talking about sirens."
"What are sirens?" asked the boy.
"She means mermaids, Balin." Tex replied.
This blew the little human boy's mind, knowing how they were just talking about mermaids earlier on in the morning.
"See? I only wish to be your loving friend, and to return you to your home Down Under."
Balin then sighed hearing that part, and the two noticed.
"Hey, what's wrong? You don't wanna go home?" she asked in concern.
"No. I already am home." replied Balin.
"What?" Verosika was surprised to hear this. "But Hell's no place for a sweet little human. You look like you deserve to go to Heaven."
Balin looked away from her feeling torn about that, and Tex quickly assumed why.
"I take it you heard the stories of...?" he asked the boy, getting a nod out of him. "Then why don't you want to go back home?"
"Because I'll be without my family again." said Balin.
"Aww. I'm so sorry for your loss." said Verosika sympathetically.
"No, it's not like that." the kid reacted quickly. "They were sent away."
"Were they... bad people?"
"Witness protection, actually." Tex interrupted her, lowering his ears in sorrow. "I know."
"Then... why aren't you with them?" asked the succubus.
"Yeah. I don't like to talk about it." the boy sighed.
"His Earth government wouldn't let him stay with them, because he was considered a liability having not witnessed what they've seen." Tex then explained for him.
Soon, Balin then decided to be brave again, and told Verosika about how Loona found him after spending half the week being homeless after escaping the home he was put in.
"Ohh... little one. I'm so sorry." Verosika calmly cooed to Balin in sorrow, as she hugged him tight.
"Can't...! Breathe...!" wheezed Balin.
"Here. Let Mama V kiss you better."
She then loosened her grip on the kid and gave him kisses on his forehead and cheek, causing him to stir a little smile onto his lips.
"Hmm... you like my kisses, kid?" giggled Verosika.
"Hehehehe, it's like I'm being kissed by a snake." giggled Balin back. "Your lips tickle."
"So... is your name just 'sweetie', or...?" Verosika then asked him.
"My name is Balin Johnson. Nice to meet you, Ms. Verosika."
"Balin Johnson, eh?" she repeated with a lot of interest. "That's a very cute name."
Balin then blushed being told that.
"Say... you like music, Balin?" she asked him next, earning a nod from the boy. "Have you heard any of my music?"
He then shook his head, which was understandable to Verosika seeing as though she only performed around the U.S whenever she visited the human world, especially during the Spring Broken bet.
"What kind of music do you sing?" Balin started asking her.
"Pop, R&B, hip-hop, and soul." she replied. "I know rock 'n' roll is Hell's national anthem, but pop music ain't always cheesy. Isn't it, sweetie?"
"No, it's not." replied the boy.
So, putting an earbud into one of his ears, Verosika then played him one of her songs to show him his music and maybe soothe him down a little more while she swayed him once more, with his head in her upper-breast and her tail swishing.
"Thank you, Ms. Verosika." said Balin softly looking at her. "You're actually very nice."
"So are you, honey." she softly whispered with another kiss on the cheek. "But you can just call me Verosika. Or V."
Tex watched how Verosika cradled the kid with such care and grace with a little impressed smile on his face. But it soon changed when he showed an anxious look.
"Uhh, ma'am?" he slowly pointed his claw behind her. "You might wanna consider putting him down soon?"
Verosika then turned around to see the I.M.P gang standing at the broken door of the apartment, with Loona growling out of instincts for the little boy she called a friend.
"PUT! HIM! DOWN, VEROSIKA!" she screamed at her angrily, as she started barking at her with Blitzø and Millie holding her arms back.
"Okay, it's okay! Look. I'm putting him down now. No harm done." submitted Verosika as she slowly put down Balin, still listening to her music.
"Well, some harm." whispered Tex.
Soon, Loona then took her deep breath exercises again and calmed down. "Thanks." she flatly said before going back to texting.
"You mean, that's it?" she asked in confusion. "Just growling? You weren't planning on, ripping me apart?"
"Oh, I wasn't. Instead, I would've just punched the hell outta you, but not now. Not with him around at least."
"Yeah. It's like a maternal feeling." said Blitzø. "Call her motherly with the kid around, no big deal to her. But call her soft, I'd agree with her that she'd climb into your coffin with you in her teeth."
"Like I'mma do with YOU?!" Verosika started snarling and walking slowly towards the 'limp-dick' boss, very angrily.
"Whoa, whoa, what's going on here?" he stuttered as she cornered him to the wall, sounding terrified of her this time.
"So breaking up with me, betting me, crashing my little fuck you party wasn't enough, but lying that I eat kids behind my back?!" she quietly seethed at him.
"See?! What did I tell ya, sir?" exclaimed Moxxie. "You never listen!"
"At least that's one thing Queen Sardine and I can agree on." remarked Blitzø sarcastically.
"WATCH IT, DICK!" shouted Verosika. "I may not be stealing this adorable kid, but I will blow RIGHT NOW!"
"Oh yeah? Blow ME!"
"TAKE! THIS! OUTSIDE!" Loona and Tex barked at them, pointing to the outside of the room.
Blitzø and Verosika then walked out of the apartment, gazing into each other's eyes and growling like dogs.
Loona then walked up to Balin, who was lying on the couch with his earbud still in, and softly took it out of his ear.
"Hey, kiddo." she softly said.
"Loona!" shouted Balin in delight.
He ran up to her and wrapped his arms around the hellhound he was starting to call a friend, before she wrapped hers around him with her tail wagging.
"I'm so sorry for leaving you here by yourself." she felt like watering up in her eyes again.
"It's okay, Loona. I'm okay. Just a little tired but I have Tex to thank for protecting me." smiled Balin.
"Ain't no problem at all, lil' man." Tex ruffled his hair. "We had a lotta fun. Didn't we?"
"I'm just glad to hear." Loona then said to her first major friend.
"Wait. Does this make me and Verosika... friends?" the little boy then asked the two hellhounds.
"Guess so." grinned Tex. "But hey, if there's anymore trouble that comes your way, maybe I can quit being her bodyguard and become yours."
"But you need that job, don't you?" asked Balin in concern.
"Yeah, well, do you remember when we first met Loona? When I told you I wasn't paid enough?" he replied, speaking to the female hellhound. "I meant that. So anything for this kid of yours, anything if times get rough down here."
Loona's tail wagged a little slower feeling more in love with Tex, hearing how he'd be there for them.
"Alright, nice speaking to you again so soon, kid." smiled the buff hound. "But I gotta bounce off to my girlfriend's. Oh, wait..."
Tex then got himself an idea.
"By the way, I know it sounds a little too early to consider, but if you're free by any chance, how'd you like to show him one of her parties?" he asked the two.
"Really? A party?" Loona then showed a look of surprise.
"I've never been to a party before." added Balin. "Is it fun?"
"Little bro, my girlfriend's place is the party house of the block." replied Tex with a chuckle. "Nearly everyone in a place called Gluttony comes to her parties every weekend."
"But Tex, he's only seven. And he's been here with me for the last four days now." Loona said, feeling anxious. "Are you sure this isn't a little, too... early?"
"I'll make sure Bee or anyone else won't hurt him." replied Tex softly. "But he does seem like the brave type, doesn't he?"
"Definitely does."
Loona then showed a smile to the kid in her arms, before affectionately licking his cheek a few times, making Balin laugh and Tex widen his eyes.
"Wow. You weren't joking about that photo in the text." he said, very stunned at that. "And I only gave him a pony-back ride."
"Meh, a hellhound's still a hound." she chuckled. "I've gotten used to it."
"Fair enough. Dogs love kids, kids love dogs." shrugged Tex. "Anyway, I know Bee would love to see you again sometime soon, maybe she'd perhaps be happy to meet him. But I'm still always up for a call."
"Yeah. Me too." flushed Loona.
And that was coming from a hellhound who never got off her phone, not even during Veteran's Day.
"See you later, lil' man." Tex spoke to the kid once again, before speaking to Loona as he waved them goodbye. "You two Lunes. Love these catch-ups we have."
Watching him leave, Loona soon ruffled Balin's hair gently and slowly.
"I take it today was the biggest adventure for you?" she smirked.
"Yes it was. I'm friends with another hellhound and a popstar!" Balin smiled.
"Once again, I'm glad to hear that from you, sweetie." Loona chuckled before showing a sweet smile. "Come here you..." she gave him a kiss then began rubbing her snout along his cheek, making him rather relaxed than ticklish.
Moxxie and Millie watched the affectionate scene from the couch in awe, before Millie nudged him to grab some tools for the door they now had to fix the hinges back on.
A/N: See y'all in the next chapter.