Chapter 43: Trust Exercise
A/N: We've gotten to my favorite episode of the show! I can't tell you how many times I've laughed while watching this episode. So many crazy moments. Now I get to add even more craziness to it. I'm going to break this episode into three sections since there is a lot to unpack from this episode. So we won't be hearing any of the songs in this chapter but we will next chapter.
With tensions running high thanks to Charlie's negligence, how is everyone going to trust each other? Seems like they need a lesson on that in order to better themselves, don't you think?
How bad could that be?
Trivia of the Day: Since Hugo is based of Roy Kent from Ted Lasso it's a no brainer that if he was part of the show, I would picture Brett Goldstein voicing him lol. I don't think anyone else could pull of a gruffy, teddy bear of a character better than him.
Books that are mentioned in the story are from the author Stjepan Sejic. They're called 'Sunstone' and 'Fine Print'. If you like edgy comics I would highly recommend reading them. And they fit a certain part of the chapter lol.
Disclaimer: I don't own Hazbin Hotel or Helluva Boss. I just own my characters.
Enjoy!
/
Jenny yawned as she sat up in Angel's bed. You would think she would be in her new room that Alastor had made near his quarters but sadly that wasn't the case
The human was supposed to move into her new room that Alastor had Nifty clean out. Key word was supposed to. But with Blitzo moving into the hotel, that all changed cause the Imp had a field day when he found out the Radio Demon had her new room closer to his to keep her safe. Alastor couldn't care less about the Imp's feelings but he caved in when Tony found out about it and threatened to cut the wires to his radio station if Blitzo trashed the hotel one more time.
So Blizto ended up taking the room Jenny was supposed to get and Nifty had to clean the room next to it. With the Imp sandwiched in between the human and Overlord, there was no need to worry about Jenny being spied on. But with Jenny's newest room being cleaned, that meant Jenny was stuck in Angel's room for another night.
Angel groaned as he sat up on the couch he was sleeping on and stretched out the kinks in his back.
"Charlie has all the money in the world at her disposal and she couldn't spend a little extra on comfier furniture" he grumbled.
"I said I would take the couch while I was crashing here" Jenny pointed out.
Angel waved her off.
"I may be an asshole but I'm still a gentleman. No way would I let you sleep on this brick"
He went above and beyond making her feel comfortable while she camped out in his room. He let her have the bed and made sure the sheets were clean so she wouldn't have to sleep on something gross. He had her makeup out and ready so he could help her put her disguise on in the morning. He locked the door to his room and had his gun by his side in case anyone tried to sneak in while they were sleeping. He showed how much of a friend he had become to Jenny since they met.
"I'm sorry I had to sleep in your room for another night, Ang" Jenny said sheepishly.
Angel just pulled out some clothes from his drawers and looked at them to see what would look good together.
"You can make it up to me by letting me decorate your new room. We don't know when Blitz will get you home so might as well add some flare to the place" he said.
He turned around and handed the outfit he put together to Jenny.
"Go ahead and shower first. I'll get your makeup ready while you're getting changed"
He gently shoved her over to the bathroom in a brotherly manner and let her get ready for the day. Jenny smirked a little. For being a proclaimed asshole, Angel had his heart in the right place. He acted like he didn't care about anyone in the hotel when he first got here but now he secretly made sure the girls were safe and ok while they were staying in this place.
Seems like this hotel was working after all.
As she let the water wash over her, her thoughts went on to Charlie and this situation with Hugo. She felt slightly bad for yelling at the princess to the point of making her cry. She thought of Charlie as a friend and was very thankful for everything she did for her since she came to Hell. But she knew she had to be tough. A real friend told you how it is and would let you know when you're wrong on something. She wanted Charlie to succeed with her hotel plans but she wanted the princess to use her head too. If she continued to act the way she did when she let Hugo in, she was going to have everyone walk all over her. Jenny wouldn't let that happen while she was here. She would be the voice of reason for this hotel. While Charlie saw everything rose tinted, Jenny saw everything clear. That's how her grandma raised her and that's how she was going to teach Charlie.
After drying off and putting on the outfit Angel gave her, she went back into the room where Angel was waiting for her to put her disguise on.
"Think we should go with your wig today. Your red hair will clash with your outfit" he said.
"I could never find anything that would complement with my hair color" Jenny sighed.
"Hey, it's a bitching color. I know a lot of Sinners who have to go thru a ton of hair dye to get even close to that color and you were born with it. Be lucky you were born with pretty features" Angel said.
Jenny smiled weakly.
"Everyone always called me a freak because of my hair color. Blitz was the first person who said he loved my hair color. He said it was his favorite shade of red-well he said it was same shade of blood, but I guess that's considered a compliment from him cause of what he does for a living"
Angel had an unreadable look on his face as he heard about Blitzo. It was obvious to everyone what the Imp felt about the human. The way he looked at her, how he spoke to her, how he would do anything she asked of him. It was obvious that he viewed her as more than just a friend. The only one who didn't seem to notice was Jenny. Maybe she didn't notice because she was so focused on returning home or because everyone had their eyes on her. Either way, it must have been painful to be around someone you loved but couldn't say anything about it. But it wasn't his place to say anything. Not his monkeys, not his circus.
"There we go. Now you look like a star"
Jenny had to hand it to Angel. The Spider knew what he was doing when it came to makeup. If he wasn't in the adult film industry he could kill it by being a makeup artist.
"Let's go start another awkward day in the hotel" she said.
"Hugo should be leaving soon. I think Blitz said he was going to get those kids out of the pound today since Stolas sent him the money for them" Angel said.
"Oh good, now we can go back to everyone trying to blow up and trash the place again" Jenny teased.
"Again? Toots that hasn't stopped with Hugo being here, if anything it's been ramped up" Angel joked.
/
The kitchen was oddly quiet as everyone ate their breakfast. Charlie was quiet because she knew everyone was mad at her. Hugo didn't say anything because he didn't know what to say and he had a feeling it wasn't a good idea to be friendly to the group he was spying on. Everyone else was quiet because they still felt uncomfortable about the whole situation.
How could you trust someone who went behind your back?
Jenny went to grab the sugar so she could sprinkle it over her oatmeal the same time Hugo went to grab for it. She jumped a little at the contact and pulled her hand away. The gargoyle actually looked ashamed and pushed the sugar bowl towards her so she could use it first.
"Sorry" he mumbled.
Jenny didn't say anything and slowly took the sugar bowl. Angel and Husker sat next to her at the table and glared at Hugo as if he had slapped Jenny's hand. Charlie wilted a bit more when she saw everyone still wasn't getting along and they were ready to fight.
Mei looked around the table. Biting her lip, she slapped her hands on the table and suddenly stood up.
"Fuck it. Since no one is going to be the grown up then I will" she said.
"I killed a lot of innocent people when I was alive, I'm talking like a whole city worth of people. I was so angry with everyone because I felt that town killed my sister and made her die an early death. I know it was wrong and it wouldn't bring my sister back. I'm not a bad person but I did a bad thing. Despite that, you guys saw past that and understood where I was coming from. Hugo did a bad thing. Fortunately it didn't become worse but what he did was wrong and we know that, he knows that. We also know he didn't do it to be a creep, he was just trying to help a couple a kids so they didn't end up with a bunch of creeps. He might have made this hotel a bit unsafe but I'm still staying because this place is way safer than it is out in the streets, and Charlie provides us food and shelter without asking anything in return except to help her with her project"
The lamb looked a Charlie with a determined look.
"If forgiving Hugo is going to help me become a better person then I'm going to do it. If this will get me closer to reaching Heaven so I can find my sister then I'll do whatever it takes. I'm going to show those angels that there is such a thing as a second chance even in the afterlife"
She looked at the others at the table.
"Are you in? It's either leave and let the Exterminators get you or growing a pair and giving Hugo a second chance"
Everyone was stunned. Mei was usually quiet and kept to herself. They never expected her of all people to actually be the voice of reason in this group of misfits.
Angel and Husker looked at each other, then at Jenny before looking at Charlie. They shrugged at the same time.
"I can't leave while Alastor is still here so I'll just have to deal with our British friend. I can speak for Nifty by saying she won't leave when there's a 'bad boy' staying in the hotel" Husker said.
"I sure as shit ain't leaving cause I don't want to pay rent. And who else is going to help Toots with her makeup?" Angel said.
It seemed this was their way of saying they would give Charlie a second chance. The princess looked hopeful as everyone slowly said they forgave her for this fuck up. She looked at Jenny and bit her lip. The human hadn't said anything yet and she was worried she would lash out again.
Jenny sighed. She gave Charlie a tired look. If the princess was going to succeed in making this hotel work, she was going to need all the help she could get.
"The next time you try to fix something, don't sing a song about it" she said.
Charlie had tears in her eyes as she smiled. No one was going to leave the hotel!
"Thank you so much everyone!" she said.
"Yeah, yeah" everyone mumbled.
Lue who was sitting at the very end of the table smirked a little. He wasn't happy about how this situation unfolded but he was impressed with the outcome of it. Maybe Charlie did have a chance at redeeming a Sinner.
The little tender moment was interrupted when Pentious burst into the kitchen crying.
"Jenny!" he yelled.
He flung to the human and cried his little eyes out.
"She's trying to get rid of them!"
"Get rid of who, Pent?" Jenny asked slowly.
"My Eggies!" Pentious cried.
"Vaggie said they're all over the place and they need to go! Don't let her get rid of my minions!"
Jenny made a face. Everyone knew how much Pentious cared about his 'egg boys'.
"Oh boy" she sighed.
She patted Pentious on the head as he continued to cry.
"Don't worry, no one is going to get rid of your egg boys. Mei, please calm him down while we see why Vaggie decided now to do this"
Pentious ran over to Mei and cried on her shoulder while the lamb patted him on the back , saying 'there, there' to him while Charlie and Jenny went to see why Vaggie would do such a thing to Pentious.
They got their answer when they reached the lobby and saw crates full of weapons and gadgets. Vaggie looked pissed as she stared at everything.
"These need to go now! Same with the eggs!" she said.
Pentious cried some more as he heard that. Charlie ignored the snake as she stared at her girlfriend.
"What's going on, Vaggie?"
Vaggie pointed a finger at Pentious.
"Our 'master inventor' bought a shit ton of weapons from Carmilla Carmine! He's trying to blow shit up again!" she snapped.
"No I'm not! I got all of that stuff to secure the hotel!" Pentious said.
"After our little ordeal with Hugo, it was pointed out we don't have any security to keep us all safe. Alastor might have hired IMP to keep us safe but when they're at their job we'll be left vulnerable. So I took it upon myself to get things that can be used to keep the hotel safe"
Vaggie pulled out a bazooka from the pile of weapons.
"How is a bazooka going to keep us safe?" she asked dully.
Millie came up and grabbed it from her.
"That's actually ours for work. We needed to replenish our supplies and Pent said he could get a discount if he bought so many weapons from Carmilla" she said.
Vaggie rolled her eyes.
"Did you think Tony would allow you to tinker with the hotel when he's always on a warpath with anyone who trashes this place?"
Tony popped out of the pile of weapons looking annoyed.
"Where is that heat seeking missile I asked you to order?" he barked.
Pentious shrugged sheepishly.
"They're on backorder at the moment with everyone wanting one for Extermination day. I was able to get the parts to make one myself so it can be programmed to work how we would like it" he said.
Tony grumbled then went back into the pile to see what else was in the crates. Charlie laughed nervously and looked at Pentious. It was time to step up and be in charge of this hotel.
"Pentious…I um…appreciate you wanting to keep everyone safe, but maybe we should start off small like adding security cameras outside of the hotel first" she suggested.
"Vox owns all the cameras in Pentagram city" Pentious pointed out.
"We install those, it won't be any different to when Hugo put cameras inside the hotel-no offense"
Hugo waved him off, knowing the snake meant no harm. He was too distracted by the fancy weapons anyway.
"Pentious has a point, princess. You want to show everyone that this hotel is safe, it wouldn't hurt to add security measures. Plus it'll make it angel proof for the new Extermination" Lue said.
Knowing Lue had a point, Vaggie caved in. Pentious was just trying to keep everyone safe. It was better than him intentionally blowing stuff up.
"Ok, we've cleared up the whole weapons thing. Why did you tell Pentious he had to get rid of his minions?" Jenny asked.
One of the minions was messing around with a laser and fired it at the ceiling where it made a hole. Vaggie growled and pointed at the new hole.
"That's why!" she barked.
"These things cause more damage to the hotel than Blitzo does and that's saying something cause he likes to ram his van into the building. We can't afford to have this place trashed anymore so they need to go"
Pentious got all teary eyed. He had never been apart from his minions. They were his closest companions since he came to Hell.
Hugo looked up from the weapons to see how upset Pentious was about this whole situation. What he did next surprised the Snake. He got in front of Vaggie and crossed his arms.
"You shouldn't kick them out for messing up. You need to explain how things are done. Whenever Muffin and Waffles would act up or do something they weren't supposed to, I would reprimand them and discipline them so they wouldn't do that again. How else will they learn if you don't explain it to them?"
Vaggie and Pentious were shocked by Hugo's actions. The gargoyle knew he was on thin ice with everyone thanks to what he did. He could have kept his head down, but here he was, trying to defend someone who already stayed at this hotel.
Vaggie sighed and put her hands on her hips. Hugo had guts standing up for someone who didn't like him.
"Fine, I won't kick them out. But they need to know how things run here in this hotel" she said.
She looked at Pentious.
"They get one more chance. If they continue to act up, they're gone. Got it?"
Pentious nodded quickly. He would do anything if it meant he could keep his egg minions.
"Well how are they going to learn what not to do in the hotel?" Jenny said.
Alastor had jazz music playing as he sauntered down the stairs. Vaggie narrowed her eyes as she smirked. Perfect.
"Alastor, I have a job for you"
The radio demon paused mid step and rolled his eyes at Vaggie.
"Whatever childish thing it is that you need me to do, it'll have to wait. I have a meeting I need to go to" he said.
"Oh good, this works then. Pentious's eggs need to learn some ground rules about what they can't do here and who better to teach them than the host of the hotel?" Vaggie said smugly.
Alastor glared at Vaggie.
"May I remind you that I need to attend a meeting? I don't have time to babysit nor do I want to"
Jenny held up a record and waved it at him.
"If you do this, I'll give you one of your records back" she sang.
Alastor gave Jenny a dull glare.
"Bribing me with my own property? That's childish even for you, Jennifer"
Jenny just waved the record some more. Alastor rolled his eyes and snatched the record away.
"Fine. I'll find a use for them while I'm out" he sighed.
"But I want the other record you're holding hostage. I'm still missing one"
"You'll get it when you bring the egg byis back safe and sound" Jenny promised.
Alastor shook his head muttering 'brat' under his breath. He made to leave but paused in front of Jenny. He pointed his microphone at her with a stern look.
"Do stay out of trouble while I'm gone. I know that sounds hard but I have faith you can behave for one day" he said.
Jenny flipped him off and stuck her tongue out. Alastor smirked at her childish behavior. He turned to Nifty and Husker, giving them a warning look as his eyes glowed.
"Do not let anything happen to her" he warned.
Nifty just giggled while Husker told him to fuck off.
Alastor motioned for the egg minions to follow him. Pentious cried as he watched them go. Even though they weren't getting kicked out, he was still upset to see them leave. Mei patted his shoulder as she tried to calm him down.
Blitzo came into the lobby as he texted something in his phone.
"Alright, Stolas sent me the money I'll need to get those kids out" he said.
"I just need to know what their names are so I'm getting the right kids out"
"Their names are Muffin and Waffles" Hugo said.
Everyone blinked when they heard that. Someone was about to ask about their names but Hugo beat them to it.
"I didn't name them. They were given those names when I found them. Thought it would be pointless to give them a new name when they were used to the ones they had" Hugo sighed.
Blitzo shrugged.
"Whatever. I'm also going to need a piece of clothing from you as well"
Hugo raised an eyebrow.
"Why?"
"So the kids won't freak out, dumbass. They're going to be scared that some random Imp adopted them and won't believe me if I tell them I know you. If I show them something that has your scent on it, it'll calm them down and trust me to bring them back here" Blitzo pointed out.
Everyone was impressed with how much thought Blitzo put into this situation. He might have been pissed off about what Hugo did but he wasn't going to let kids suffer because of it. He even made sure this kids would feel safe when he picked them up.
Hugo pulled out a bandana from his pocket and handed it to him.
"This should work. They've seen this before so that'll help them" he said.
"Waffles will come to you since he can tell when someone is nice. Muffin on the other hand is a bit of a scatter brain so you'll have to give her that to get her attention. They're Corgis so they're going to be very stubborn and try to fight with you"
"Yeah, yeah I know. I'm sure those stumpy little legs and big fluffy butts are going to intimidate me" Blitzo said dryly.
Hugo had a somber look on his face.
"Thank you again for doing this. I owe you"
"Don't be thanking me just yet. I still haven't gotten them" Blitzo pointed out.
He looked at Millie and Moxxie.
"You make sure nothing happens while I'm gone. You're on security duty today. And Moxxie, if you let anything happen to Jenny or Loonie I'll put you through the fucking wall"
Moxxie made a face.
"Why was I threatened?!"
Blitzo ignored him and turned to Loonie.
"You have fun, Loonie!" he cooed.
"Will you get out of here, already?" Loona sighed.
Blitzo gushed, thinking she said something sweet to him. He turned his attention to Jenny. He hated leaving her alone while Hugo was in the hotel but he had Millie and Moxxie here to keep her safe.
"I'll be back soon, Jen" he said.
Jenny gave him a lopsided grin and went over to hug him.
"You're doing a sweet thing, B"
Blitzo just wrapped his arms around her and stayed like that for a little while. He didn't care that there were others in the lobby staring at them. He just wanted to enjoy this little moment of having Jenny close. Any little interaction he had with her, he treasured. He would never reveal his feelings to her so he settled by having these moments to tie himself over. Hearing her laugh, watching her smile, feeling the warmth of her hugs. All these would help dull the ache he felt in his heart. To have someone he loved so close but had to keep them at arms length was brutal. This hurt more than a gunshot wound.
But this would have to do if he wanted to have Jenny in his life.
He finally forced himself to pull away so he wouldn't make this weird.
"Have fun with whatever class Charlie has cooking up today" he said.
He quickly left the hotel before he could make a fool of himself.
Everyone stood in the lobby awkwardly, wondering what they were supposed to do next.
Kevin, one of Tony's workers came over to Charlie.
"It's all built, Princess"
Charlie's eyes sparkled with delight.
"Oh perfect! And just in time too!"
She turned to the group.
"Everyone, let's head to the parlor. We're going to start our next lesson for today"
Everyone gave Charlie a hesitant look.
What was the princess up to now?
/
Charlie stood in front of a hastily built stage with a big colorful banner on top. Everyone looked at the structure oddly. Why was a stage built inside the parlor?
"Thank you all for coming! So I wanted to start off by saying I owe you all a big apology over what happened with this whole mess. I should have taken your safety more seriously. You've given this place a chance to see that it's possible for a Sinner to be redeemed. Going forward I'll be more careful with who stays at the hotel and if everyone will be comfortable with our newest tenants that will stay here. I promise this will never happen again"
Everyone mumbled their thanks. They may have forgiven Charlie but they were still annoyed with what she did. Least they were taking baby steps to going back to how things were.
"Now, since that issue came up, it has been made obvious that there is a little…tension in the hotel"
"Tension that can be counterproductive to what we're trying to do here" Vaggie added.
Charlie nodded in agreement.
"Vaggie and I thought that this group could really benefit from…"
She and Vaggie jumped up in excitement (well, Vaggie tried but failed to be excited"
"Trust Exercises!"
"Trust Exercises"
Charlei made a face when Vaggie didn't act excited. She shook that off and smiled at the group.
"We're doing trust exercises" she said.
Everyone made a face at that. They get where Charlie was coming from but they didn't know if doing trust exercises now was a good idea.
Husker motioned towards the stage behind Charlie.
"So, what's with the whole, uhhh…this?" he asked.
"I'm not about to put on some show for these fucking chumps"
"I'll do it, but it's cash up front" Angel Dust said.
"And I know some of them can't afford it. But I'll give Toots a free show"
"Please don't" Jenny said weakly.
"We're not doing a show. We're going to do trust falls. You tell us a little something about yourselves to us and when you fall off the stage we catch you. We trust that you're being honest with us and you trust us to catch you when you fall" Charlie explained.
Stolas clapped as he did a little hoot laugh.
"Ohh, I've never played a commoner game. How fun!"
Everyone did a double take when they saw the owl prince. When did he get here?!
"Stolas when did you get here?" Jenny asked.
Stolas shrugged as he made little owl noises.
"I've been here this whole time. I was supposed to go with Blitzy to the pound to help him with those children" he said.
It quickly dawned on everyone that he was in the lobby before but they were all distracted with Vaggie and the crate of weapons. Opps.
"Shouldn't you be with Blitz then?" Loona said.
Stolas made a sad face.
"I was, but he ran off saying he 'didn't want people to get the wrong idea of us together'. So he left me here while he went to the dog pound" he said.
Jenny sighed.
"Damnit Blitz"
She gave Stolas a sympathetic look.
"Well, since you're here I guess you can see what we're doing with this hotel" she said.
Stolas perked up and smiled. He would rather be here than be at home where a wife he didn't love was waiting to yell at him.
"Of course! I'm always fascinated by what the commoner folk are into"
Vaggie made a face and tried to get back on track.
"Alright, Charlie. Why don't you show how we're going to do this game"
Charlie gave her girlfriend a big smile.
"Actually, I thought maybe you could take the lead on this one" she said.
"I trust everyone, so maybe you know better about how to build it properly"
Vaggie was surprised. She didn't expect her girlfriend to let her be in charge of some of the exercises. But if Charlei trusted her, then she wouldn't let her down.
"Um, ok then"
She quickly went into drill sergeant mode. Everyone was freaked out in the sudden mood change-well Hugo was used to it since he was from the military. As soon as Vaggie spoke, everyone stood straight on reflex.
"All right, so we are starting with trust falls. Each of you are going to share something vulnerable with the group about yourself and then fall backwards, while the rest of the group catches you, got it? Who wants to go first?" she said.
Charlie quickly jumped up and down as she waved her hand.
"Oh! Me, me, me, me, me!"
Vaggie rolled her eyes and sighed.
"All right, get up there"
Charlei jumped on the stage and looked at the group.
"I love you guys. Like really, really love you"
Everyone blinked at the statement. That was a little too much to start them off. Charlie didn't seem to care and fall backwards with a smile on her face. Vaggie was the only one who caught her.
"That…was…amazing!" Charlie cheered.
"Yeahhh, shouldn't toots be in charge of all our activities?" Angel Dust asked.
"I'm getting kindergarten vibes from this"
"I didn't want to put Jenny in charge of this since this was my fault and that would have been shitty of me. Besides this is fun, right?!" Charlie said.
"….Toots, can you please pretend to forgive Charlie so you can take over?" Angel pleaded.
Jenny swatted him on the arm.
"Get up there and stop being a baby" she said.
Angel rolled his eyes.
"Fine"
He went up on the stage and put his hands on his hips.
"Let's see, something about myself" he muttered.
He perked up as he thought of something.
"Oh, here we go! I love to suck-"
"I SWEAR TO FUCK IF YOU SAY DICKS!" Husker snapped.
"Popsicles, you sicko! Get your mind out of the gutter" Angel Dust laughed.
He jumped off where Husker caught him. He had a dirty smile on his face as he looked at the cat.
"But you know…dicks too"
Husker grumbled and dropped him to the floor.
"Alright, Pentious. You're next" Vaggie said.
The snake went up on the stage, still feeling sad about his minions.
"I…"
"Your minions will be back later today Pentious. They just went on a field trip" Jenny reminded him.
"Say something that isn't about them"
Pentious bit his lip as he thought of something that didn't involve his minions.
"I, um, like to build small gadgets that don't explode or cause harm. Like Jenny's flowers I made"
Jenny smiled while Mei gave him a thumbs up.
"See? That wasn't so hard. Now jump, we'll catch you"
Pentious gulped. He jumped and was happy when a bunch of them caught him.
"Wow you're slimy" Vaggie said.
"Hugo, you're up"
Everyone gulped a little when the huge gargoyle went up the stage. The wood creaked due to his weight. Hugo looked at the group as he made little grumbling noises. What could he say that wouldn't make him look like a bigger asshole?
"Ummm….I'm actually a good baker. I can make a mean Victoria Sponge" he said.
That was a pleasant surprise for everyone. Who knew the big gruff guy had a talent in baking?
Hugo looked at the stage then at the group before making a face.
"I think it's best that I just step down. You'll all turn to pancakes if you try to catch me" he pointed out.
"Sorry!" Charlie said sheepishly.
Hugo waved her off and walked off the stage.
"Mei, you're up next"
The lamb scurried up to the stage.
"Let's see…since staying at this hotel, Pentious has become my best friend in the whole world!"
Pentious made little hiss noises in excitement.
"You're my best friend too!" he cheered.
"Yay!"
Mei jumped off and everyone caught her.
"Well, I guess this is going ok so far" Jenny said to herself.
"Loona, why don't you give it a shot?" Charlie asked.
The hellhound pulled out a twenty and handed it to Charlie while not looking away from her phone.
"Got it. Umm, Moxxie, why don't you go next?"
The Imp went on the stage and cleared his throat as if he was going to give a huge speech.
"My favorite type of music is Opera, particularly-"
"Ok, next!" Loona said.
Moxxie glared at Lonna but jumped. Most of the guys jumped out of the way just to be dicks and only Millie and Jenny caught him.
"Nice job, Mox" Millie said.
Jenny turned to Lue.
"You want to go next, Lue?"
The musician gave the human a smirk.
"I've got a bad back right now so I don't think it's a good idea to jump" he said.
It was also so they wouldn't feel his wings under his jacket.
"But I'll do the sharing part to be a good sport. I'm good a music and play any type of instrument. That good?"
"You get points for participating at least" Charlie said.
"Stolas? Would you like to give it a shot?"
The owl prince got excited at being included in the game. He strode over to the stage. With his tall, lanky body, he looked even taller as he towered over them on the stage.
"Something about me is I love it when Blitzy puts his *bleep* in my *bleep* while shoving a *bleep* and *bleep*. But sometimes I'll have him do *bleep* and *bleep*…"
The more he talked, the more everyone's eyes bugged out. The owl was so lost in thought as he recalled his little 'adventures' with Blitzo that he didn't see how horrified everyone was. Even Angel Dust was offended as he used a set of hands to cover his ears while he used the other to cover Jenny's. Mei and Pentious covered each others ears while Lue tugged his ratty hat over his face to cover his blushing cheeks and Husker pulled out a flask and took a long drink. Millie, Moxxie and Loona were used to Stolas's vulgar mouth and didn't seemed bothered by it.
Hugo grew angry when he saw how uncomfortable everyone was getting, especially the girls.
"OI!" he shouted.
Stolas jumped at the outburst.
Hugo gestured to everyone in the group.
"There are ladies present! Have some common sense you twat!"
Stolas went red when he realized how vulgar he sounded.
"Oh my! Sorry!" he said.
"Ummm, I have a daughter named Octavia that I love very much"
Jenny made a face.
"You don't go from talking like a pig to mentioning about having a daughter in the same breath. You just don't" she deadpanned.
"Just get down before everyone throws shit at you"
Stolas jumped off the stage where only Vaggie, Charlie and Jenny caught him.
"Jenny, can you go up next please?" Vaggie sighed.
The human climbed up the stage and looked at the group. They all seemed a bit excited about hearing something personal about her. What could she say that would be interesting?
"Let's see…When I was…alive…I grew up in Denver, Colorado" she said.
"Wait, I thought you were from Salem, Massachusetts?" Angel said.
"No, I moved out there when David got a job for-"
"Save it!" Angel said.
"No one wants to hear anything that deals with that loser. Give us something else"
"But that was something about me" Jenny said.
"Don't care, tell us something about you that doesn't deal with David" Angel said.
Jenny rolled her eyes.
"Fine. Hmmm. My grandma's name is Audrey and she was from the South"
"We said something about you, not your grandma" Husker pointed out.
"That is something about me! You guys know how much I loved my grandma!"
"But that isn't about you! Go on, give us something else-that deals with you" Vaggie said.
Jenny huffed and crossed her arms.
"How about this? I'm fluent in speaking French and Spanish. That work?"
"Great. Now jump so we can get this stupid game over with" Angel said.
Jenny rolled her eyes and turned her back to them.
"Don't drop me"
She jumped off where everyone caught her and set her on the floor.
"I think Nifty is the only one left that hasn't jumped" Vaggie said.
The maid scurried up to the stage. She laughed with a crazy look on her face.
"Sometimes I kill mother bugs in front of their children as a warning to others" she said.
That freaked everyone out. When Nifty jumped, everyone but Jenny took a huge step back. Jenny caught her so Nifty wouldn't land on her face.
"Yay! Fun!"
Nifty jumped out of Jenny's arms and scurried back to the stage where she jumped off and landed in the human's arms again.
"Fun!"
She did it over and over again while Charlie and Vaggie walked off to talk about something.
"Ok, this class officially sucks" Angel said.
Jenny rolled her eyes as she continued to catch Nifty.
"It's not that bad, Ang"
"Yes it is! Why don't you take over? Everyone enjoys your lessons anyway"
"That's because Charlie and Vaggie put this together and it's not my place to take over. If you have a problem with how they're running this, why don't you talk to them about it?" Jenny suggested.
Angel wore a nasty grin on his face.
"Maybe I will"
He went over to where the girls were talking to voice his opinion.
"Why do I regret telling him that?" Jenny said to herself.
"I suggest you take over, Jen. It's obvious those two have no idea on how to run these classes" Loona said.
Jenny sighed. She didn't like going behind Charlie and Vaggie's back but if they wanted this hotel to succeed, they were going to need someone who knew how to teach.
"Hey, Tony?" she called out.
The builder scurried over to her.
"Yeah, whaddya want?" he grumbled.
"How fast can you build an obstacle course out in the back?" Jenny asked.
"Shouldn't take me long at all. I just need to know what you need" the roach said.
"One sec. Stolas, come here"
She pulled Stolas to where she was and had him take over catch Nifty. The little maid was having way too much fun jumping off the stage.
Pulling out a pen and paper, Jenny wrote her list of supplies she needed from Tony.
"Think you can make something with that?" she asked.
Tony raised an eyebrow when he saw what was on the list.
"Why do you need paintball guns?"
Jenny knelt next to him and whispered something in his ear. A big smile appeared on his burly mustache face.
"Say no more, girlie. I'll have this done in an hour"
He scurried off to get what she needed built.
"What did you ask him to make?" Mei asked.
Jenny wore a wicked smirk.
"It's a surprise"
Loona snickered, knowing what that smile entailed.
"Hey guys!" Charlie said.
"Angel suggested a great place for us to built trust with each other so we're going on a little field trip!"
Everyone made a face when they heard that. Angel was actually trying to help with the class? That was new.
Angel wore a smug smile on his face.
"It's the best place to build trust with one another. A bunch of Sinners go there" he said.
Charlie didn't seem to mind. She was just happy that Angel was actually taking these classes seriously and wanted to help out. Maybe he was starting to change for the better after all!
/
(French narrator) A few moments later
"Angel! What in the actual fuck?!" Vaggie yelled.
The place Angel suggested was known for Sinners to bond with one another…literally. The stupid spider thought it would be a brilliant idea to take everyone to the local BDSM club in town. Everyone was greeted to the sight of Sinners being tied up, spanked, whipped (and doing a bunch of other things that this writer will refuse to write).
Angel was in his element as he looked at the club while everyone else was huddled together in fear and disgust.
"No activity requires more trust than BDSM, baby" he said.
"No bond is stronger than those formed through bondage. That's their motto"
Moxxie made a face in disgust.
"Who would actually come to a place like this?!"
One of the patrons who was part of the club walked by and smiled at the Imp.
"Hey Moxxie! Hey Millie!"
"Hi Rick!" Millie said.
A couple of the Sinners from the group looked at the Imp. Moxxie laughed nervously as he adjusted his neck collar.
"Welp, guess I can't look at Millie and Moxxie the same way for a while" Jenny deadpanned.
"Same" Loona added.
Charlie smiled nervously.
"Angel, love the enthusiasm. But ummm…"
"What makes you think anyone would be into this?" Vaggie snapped.
Husker surprised everyone by showing he enjoyed what was going on in the club. But that could be because one of the patrons was currently giving him a back massage.
"You know, I don't hate this" he admitted.
Nifty of course had to ruin in by coming out dressed in all latex with a whip in her hands.
"I'm ready to punish some bad boys" she said.
Husker quickly jumped up and ran off.
"Never mind I'm out"
Mei made a face as she scooted closer to Lue and Pentious.
"I'm so glad we didn't know this existed when I was living in a brothel growing up" she whimpered.
"I'm sure they did some freaky stuff back then in the Edo period" Lue dead panned.
He looked over to see Pentious picking up some type of item with a strange handle.
"I wouldn't touch that if I were you. That had to have been up one of two holes Sinners have and I'm willing to bet it went up a certain one"
Pentious screamed and dropped the item to the floor.
Jenny held the bridge of her nose. Maybe everyone was right that she should take over the class. She looked at her phone to see if Tony got back to her about finishing her little idea but there was no answer. Guess she was just going to have to wait.
A few of the patrons that were part of the club walked up to her with creepy grins on their faces. Jenny bit her lip when she saw the looks they were giving her.
"Can I help you?"
"Y-you're Jenny Nightingale, aren't you?" one of them said.
Jenny pretend to look around as if she was searching for said person and made a face.
"Last I checked, yes. Why do you ask?"
The group chuckled a little when they realized they were standing in front of a celebrity.
"We saw that video of you beating Vox up with a bat. We really loved it" another one of them said.
"Okay?" Jenny said slowly.
The leader of the group stepped forward.
"We're a couple of masochists. We enjoy when others cause us pain. We couldn't get enough of that video" they explained.
"And since you're here, that must mean you enjoying inflicting pain on others too, right?"
Jenny made a face as her eyes bugged out. What the hell?!
"Uh, yeah. That video was taken out of context. I don't enjoy hurting others, I was just defending myself. Very big difference" she laughed nervously.
That didn't seem to matter to the group as they continued to get closer to Jenny.
"Won't you please step on us? We would be honored to become a floor mat for the one and only Jenny Nightingale"
"I want you to hit me with a bat and act like I'm a pinata until something falls out"
"I want you to degrade me and tell me I'm a bad boy. Dig those heeled boots into my back and say I deserve it!"
Jenny was full on freaked out at this point. She tried backing away from them but they kept coming closer.
"Stolas, sorry for doing this but I need to get away from them!" she pleaded.
She climbed up the owl's body like he was a tree and sat on his shoulder so she could get away from the freaky group. Stolas caught on what she was trying to do and held her protectively. His eyes glowed as he glared at the group.
Loona snarled when the group wouldn't back away from them. Angel looked up from his argument with Vaggie to see what was going on.
"Shit!"
He shoved Vaggie out of the way and grabbed a spray bottle.
"Move bitch!"
He went up to the group and sprayed them with the spray bottle as if they were cats.
"Go on! Get! She's a vanilla! She's not ready for this level of kinky!" he barked.
The group of masochists actually hissed when they were getting sprayed with water. They turned their sights on Angel when they saw he was in the club as well.
"Hey Angel! It's been a while! Think you can step on us?"
Hugo went up to the group and towered over them as he growled.
"If you want someone to step on you I can do it"
To prove his point, he lifted up his huge combat boot. The masochists weren't' ready to be squashed like bugs yet and quickly scurried off to find someone else who would punish them.
Hugo lowered his foot and looked at Angel with a disgusted look.
"You're disgusting for bringing us here" he said.
Angel held his hands up.
"Okay! Okay! This was a bad idea! I forgot is was Masochist Monday at the club. You ok, Toots?"
Jenny flipped him off and started to climb down from Stolas's shoulder. The owl stopped her and put her back on his shoulder.
"I think it's best you stay up there until we get out of here, dear" he said.
He gestured to the group from before to show they were watching her from a distance with those crazy grins on their faces. Jenny made a face and clung to Stolas.
"Yeaaah, maybe you're right" she muttered.
"Sorry I have to treat you like a tall tree"
"Stay up there as long as you need to, dear" Stolas said.
Jenny hung her head. This was not how she expected her day to go when it came to classes.
"I didn't have going to a BDSM club on my bucket list, but I guess I'll just have to pencil that in" she said.
"Not really my cup of tea"
"That's kind of rich since I know you have that comic book series about a BDSM couple" Loona said.
"What was that again? Sunstone?"
Jenny went so red in the face it came through her white makeup.
"You're not supposed to know about that!" she cried.
That for sure caught Angel's attention.
"What's this? Did I hear correctly that Toots has a dirty comic book collection?"
"It's not dirty. Yeah it deals with BDSM but it's mostly about this couple who are part of that community and what their day to day life is like outside of it" Jenny deadpanned.
"And plus my favorite artist made it so I had to add it to my collection"
"Stjepan Sejic does pretty good work. I like his Fine Print series" Loona admitted.
Angel wore a smug grin.
"Well, well, well. Our little show girl has a dirty mind after all"
"For the last time, it's not dirty!" Jenny snapped.
"I'll be the judge of that. Where is this oh so interesting comic anyway?" Angel asked.
"Top side in my house where you will never be able to get to it" Jenny said.
"Oh I think I can snag that from you" Angel said.
He turned to Loona and handed her a wad of cash.
"Hey girlie, if I give you fifty bucks will you break into her home and steal that series for me?"
Loona snatched the money from him.
"Done"
"Loona!" Jenny snapped.
Loona shrugged as she pocketed the money.
"I know you got volume 2 of Fine Print and Volume 7 for Sunstone before you vanished. I want to know what happens next" she said.
Angel stuck his tongue out and flipped Jenny off.
"Should have mentioned that during the trust fall"
"I would threaten to shove something up your ass right now but considering where we are I'm scared everyone here will think that's an open invitation" Jenny said.
"That's it!" Vaggie barked.
"We are leaving! I can't believe I allowed Angel to drag us here. This is disgusting. We're off to our next location for the exercise"
"Actually, I have Tony putting together something for-"
"Nope! I'm in charge today Jenny!" Vaggie said.
"We're going to learn the way I was taught how to trust others"
When she said that, she had a dark, scary look to her face as she grinned and narrowed her eyes. All of a sudden the gang didn't seem to mind the club and thought it was safer than what Vaggie had in mind.
Jenny and Stolas clung to each other. They had a very, very bad feeling about this.
"Should we be scared, Jenny dear?" Stolas asked.
Jenny slowly nodded.
"Yeah…yeah I'd say we should be scared" she said.
"I hope Al and Blitz are having a better time than we are right now"
"Let's move it!" Vaggie ordered.
The group gulped and slowly followed Vaggie out of the club. Stolas continued to carry Jenny so none of the patrons of the club would bother her.
The masochist group from before poked their heads out from where they were hiding as they watched them leave.
"She treats Goetia royalty like furniture? That's some hard core level dominance right there" one of them said.
"I wonder what it would feel like if she propped her knee high boots on me like a footstool?" another said.
They all look at each other for a moment then ran out of the club to follow her.
"Wait Mistress Jenny! We want you to sit on us!"
So Jenny's day was…well…yeah. But at least it wasn't boring. While she was dealing with Vaggie's doomed class, Alastor was having his own little crazy adventure on the other side of town.
/
A/N: I think I went a little too far with the BDSM club but oh well it's too late to change it lol. If anyone who is reading this is part of the BDSM community please don't take offense if I got something wrong! I mean no harm and I was kind of scared to do research for it!
And sorry for the fourth wall moments but couldn't help myself.
I'm on the fence if I should have those three club members be part of the cast or not. What do you guys think?
I think my favorite troupe in stories is when the main character does something simple or they do one thing and everyone around them thinks its something else and are mind blown by it. Everyone thinks Jenny is this ballsy bad ass bitch when all she's doing is nothing crazy lol.
Hope this was a fun chapter and gave you all a big laugh. And if you want to know what those comic books Jenny was talking about they are actually real. I'm big fan of Stjepan Sejic's work. He's done a lot of DC comics but his original works are amazing. If you're interested he has some of his books on various platforms.
Please let me know what you thought of the chapter!
Take care!