THAT NIGHT...
A few hours after the Verosika Mayday incident, Loona was now making some dinner for herself and Balin, while Blitzø stayed behind with Moxxie and Millie to help fix the apartment door, hammering its hinges back on.
She had two chicken-flavoured cups of two-minute noodles heating up in the microwave, but one of them was a cup of Mac 'n' Cheese for the little boy.
Soon, as the two's meals were cooked and warmed up, Loona quickly served them at the dining room table as to not burn her paws, and Balin looked a little curious at what the meal was.
"Is this Mac 'n' Cheese?" he asked her.
"Yeah kiddo. C'mon, eat up now, it's just chicken-flavoured." replied Loona softly. "A growing boy does his nutrition to get through a day in Hell. You remember how I made those two strikes back at your world's bowling alley?"
"Was that... from this?" the boy then looked up at her in surprise.
"Well, not exactly, but there's lots of healthy ingredients in here I have to thank for that." she chuckled.
"Hmm, okay." the boy shrugged with a smile.
He was actually concerned about how this was made in Hell and what kind of ingredients they put in their meals, like if it was anything living or dead. But he still took Loona's word for it and started eating a spoonful or two of this savoury macaroni and cheese. And he was soon loving it, like he was eating something from his world.
"Mmm, this is delicious." the boy said as he swallowed his first mouthful. "Thank you, Loona."
"Don't mention it, sweetie."
With her first mouthful, Loona used her tongue to slurp up a long two-minute noodle, as smooth and slippery as it was to hold it. Seeing this made Balin giggle, thinking of how it looked like the classic spaghetti & meatballs scene from 'Lady and the Tramp'. Hearing that giggle made Loona look up at him as he continued eating his cheesy delight, and slowly went from a smirky to a wide smile that a mother would make, as surprising as it was for her.
Soon, as the two continued their dinner, Blitzø and his married imp couple walked back into the room having finished their hard work.
"Satan-damn! After three long hours of intense labour AND fixing a door, I'm finally done." he groggily yawned.
Moxxie sighed flatly as he wiped the sweat off his forehead with a screwdriver, then looked to Balin with a more happy-go-lucky look on his face.
"So sport, how've you been liking your new TV?" he teased.
"Uncle Moxxie, I haven't even used it yet." giggled Balin. "But thank you for getting it for me, because my favourite show is on tonight."
"Huh. Quite the irony coming from you, Moxx." smiled Loona, before twitching one of her eyes in discomfort.
Moxxie noticed this, but just shrugged it off thinking to himself: 'Eh, I'm used to it.'
"Ooh, what's your favourite show, sweetie-pie?" asked Millie excitingly, as she knelt down to his level. "I'd be happy to watch with you."
"Uhh, Millie? You remember our date night, right?" Moxxie reminded her.
"Oh yeah... right."
"A date? That sounds like fun." smiled Balin. "Where are you guys going?"
"If you must know, Balin, I promised Millie I'd take her to Earth for a night on Broadway." explained Moxxie, before turning to the two demons in charge. "And in exchange for the crystal with Mr. Blitzø's permission, I'd be happy to file Loona's phone bills. ...Over the next two weeks."
"Hmm, deal." said Blitzø, tossing him the crystal. "No scratches on this thing and fill her up on the way back."
"Yee-effing-HAW!" Millie slapped her left knee before locking Moxxie's arm with hers. "Back to the Future, here we come!"
The two left the apartment using the Asmodean crystal hand-in-hand. Balin was in awe of their true love, while Loona just playfully gagged at it away from his view.
"Back to the Future, on Broadway?" she asked in her head, suddenly surprised. "That's a thing?"
AN HOUR LATER...
After a nice hot shower, Balin was now in his PJs looking at his doggy alarm clock, as it read 6:58pm, excited for his favourite show to come on the air at 7:00.
Loona then came in with a bowl of popcorn and sat down on the bed with him, her tail wrapping around his legs.
"So... excited for your first night of Earth TV in a long time?" she asked him with a smirk.
"Yep." he giggled in response.
Just then, Blitzø peered his head through the boy's room to also join in on the fun.
"Imagination Castle will start in one minute, after these messages." the TV broadcast said.
"Imagination Castle, eh?" replied Blitzø. "Hmm, I could use a little R after today's... things."
"Just keep it clean for him." said Loona sternly.
"Cross my heart. Loona." the boss heartily promised.
Soon, Balin's favourite show, a documentary series called 'Imagination Castle', finally started airing. It was a show set in America about a magical hotel where its residents of all ages would move into by creating their rooms with their imagination.
A/N: Seeing this description, if you wanted to make a hotel room or apartment with your imagination, what would you do?
"And now, coming to you live from Dallas, Texas, it's time for Imagination Castle!" the announcer... announced.
Balin cheered at the name, while Loona and Blitzø chuckled at his playful behaviour.
"With your host, ...DONATELLO VENISON!" continued the announcer.
The TV then revealed the host, the founder of Imagination Castle. He was a thin-looking businessman in his mid-40s with black hair with red frosted tips, wearing a black suit, black jeans, and a white shirt with colourful suspenders underneath the suit.
"Welcome folks! To the world of 'your own' pure imagination!" Donatello spoke in a very sultry voice, as if he was played by Mel Brooks. "As we start the first of our second season, I thought I'd give y'all a little recap on what this place is all about."
He then glided towards the lobby in his roller-blade shoes.
"The entrance to this hotel may look normal to those who are watching from home, but never judge a book by its cover." the TV host continued. "Or a demon, by its kinks."
Blitzø and Loona surprisingly looked at each other shrugging off that statement, thinking that was actually very kind of him.
"Hang on a minute... something's not right." Donatello then pondered, as he skated through the lobby.
...
Still on the TV...
The host then started walking through the lobby, past each crew member of the hotel, before reaching his bellhop at the receptionist's desk.
"Good morning, Pasquale!" he greeted.
"Good morning, Mr. Venison, sir!" replied the bellhop cheerfully.
"Please, Mr. Venison was my father. A real garbage one too." he chuckled. "You can just call me: Devo."
"Righty-ho, Mr. Devo, sir." Pasquale said once again.
"Say, Pasquale? Which one of you's shut off the kiosks this morning?"
"Well good morning to you too folks, first of all." Pasquale said to the TV audience with a giggle, before clearing his throat. "Well, I just thought since there wasn't any vacancies yet..."
"Oooh, no, no, no, untrue my funny friend." chuckled Devo again. "There's always vacancies for everyone."
"Oh, my apologies, sir." the cheerful bellhop said. "I'll plug 'em back in then."
"No need for regret, champ." Devo then turned to the audience. "A moral of the story here, everyone; unplugging these kiosks means unplugging your mind. And while I view half of it as a good thing around here, the rest I consider a life lesson to stand by."
Pasquale then turned on the vacancy sign and the kiosks in the lobby, one light at a time, before people of different backgrounds started walking in. From teenagers to the homeless.
"As you can see, we have hundreds of guests coming in every day, all and sundry, looking for a life of their own." Devo explained to the TV audience. "And I'm here to witness every single one come to real life itself."
A few guests showed off their ideas on the kiosks to the audience:
ONE: A hotel room made out of a greenhouse, filled with M&M plants.
TWO: A room with a swimming pool made out of poker cards (Splashing the pot)
FINALLY: ... This kiosk had a little internet buffering, and the guy who tried to make the idea continually tapped it until it short-circuited and blew up, making him vanish out of thin air.
...
Loona then started to imagine a hotel room of her own, if she chose to live there.
DREAM: In this fantasy, she imagined a phone-like room, which had a skateboarding rink where she could use an actual phone as a skateboard, and an app for every room. eg: A Tinder room where she'd choose a non-perverted bachelor to sleep with for the night.
The dream then faded back to reality with Loona panting with her nearly drooling tongue out, before shaking it off fast to look at the TV.
...
"And with this... rather clever idea I have to say, taken into consideration..." Devo continued, looking at the M&M garden idea.
"Oh my God!" gasped the guest with the idea. "I'm getting a seal of approval!"
"Yeah. Something like that." shrugged Devo to the audience with his smile, who then signalled the bellhop with his fingers.
Pasquale then grabbed out a key, pressed the button showing the kiosk number, and stuck the key into some kind of Imagination ignition, which then brought the M&M greenhouse room to live with one twist.
"WOW! WOW! WOW!" the guest shouted and laughed with widened eyes.
...
"Wow... wow... wow..." Blitzø said more subtly.
He and Loona both had stars in their eyes, impressed with what they were seeing.
"The hell kinda magic is this?" she asked in surprise.
...
"Okay. Here's your key." Pasquale spoke on the TV next to the guest. "Rent will be $75 a week, jobs can be found on postcards in the gift shop if needed..." as soon as he handed him the key, the guest ran off so fast, he ripped Pasquale's uniform off, exposing him in nothing but his birthday suit and making him shield himself from the viewers.
Devo was then shown on the balcony overlooking everything.
"So remember, boys and girls!" he explained further. "Whether one is full of beans or down on their luck, my Imagination Castle has one and only one distinctive motto: Every room tells a story, no matter the bounds your creativity has."
...
"Damn. Dude sounds like a good role model." grinned Loona, hearing that motto.
"You reckon that could be you one day, sport?" Blitzø asked the boy.
"I want to go there when I grow up, Mr. Blitzø." replied Balin. "I could even meet him."
The boss then chuckled with a warm smile, ruffling his hair softly. "It's like he'd say, son: dream big."
"Kinda reminds you of someone else, doesn't it Dad?" Loona smirked at him.
"Uh-huh."
Balin and Loona then looked at each other with smirk-like smiles on their faces, before she slowly gave him some of her doggy kisses, a new favourite kind of affection for the boy.
Blitzø then showed a sympathetic look on his face, as he watched his adopted daughter grow personal feelings for this kid. Ones he never saw coming.
"Okay folks. Let's find some more fresh-minded meat to chat with!" Devo then said walking back into the hotel, as the three continued watching the show until it was finished for the night.
OVER THE NEXT COUPLE OF DAYS...
Balin enjoyed spending some more time in his room, from watching other shows on his TV's Earth cable to doing his own sketches of hotel rooms for Imagination Castle, which he'd even watch on the company's television sets during his trips to the office with Loona.
DEVO: "Early on in my life, I was often told that talent wasn't a thing. And you know what? The people telling me that were right. Turns out talent is nothing of itself unless it starts with one special dream."
Balin was then shown back at Loona's apartment one night, eating ice-cream while sitting cross-legged on his bed.
DEVO: "So why build this castle, do you ask? The answer's quite simple. Whenever I stepped out into the world, I'd look around until I'd find just a slither of inspiration. So for those who wish to dream, I suggest joining us from your sets would be a great place to start and to learn, before moving on up to these big leagues. Because one moment of inspiration can come to almost everyone, and when you think long and hard about it..."
On the TV, Devo drank a bottle of lemonade, swished it in his mouth like mouthguard, then spat it out in the formation of a rainbow before slurping it back in.
"You too, can find your dream-come-true!" Devo then finished.
Loona then came into the room and turned off the TV with a tap of her bushy tail. "Alright, time for bed." she said.
"Aww, Loona, it was almost over." Balin pouted a little.
"Sorry kiddo, but it's basic instinct for boys your age to drift off and dream." she chuckled, collecting his bowl of ice-cream as he snuggled up in his bed.
Loona then tucked him under the blanket and gave him his little teddy bear to cuddle with.
"You know, Loona?" said the boy, softly sighing. "You're my dream come true."
"Me?" Loona tilted her head in surprise. "What makes you say that, sweetheart?"
"Devo says dreams can come true if you believe hard enough." he explained. "I was about to give up on mine, being the saddest little boy out I've ever met in that big scary world, until you saved me and gave me a home." Balin then gave a cute little yawn as he shut his eyes. "Good night, Loona."
"Awwww." Loona then smiled with her ears lowered, as she gave him a kiss on the cheek with her warm lips. "Good night to you, Balin. I'll see you in the morning."
As she was about to leave his room, she then looked at him one more time with the smile still on her face.
"He really is so cute when he's sleeping."
Closing the bedroom door, she wanted to grab herself some wine, but another voice inside her head was saying she didn't want to be drunk in front of the kid.
So grabbing some tomatoes from the fridge, she squeezed the juice into a cup, mixed with some lemon juice and hot sauce, and ended the night drinking a glass of Virgin Bloody Mary.
A/N: What a way to introduce a new OC of the story. I can't wait to work more on Devo very soon.
See y'all in the next chapter.