Later that day, Balin and Loona arrived back at the B-Damned Mall with the imps, as they were about to meet up with Tex and two hellhounds from Bee's party who he described as the boy's secret admirers.

As usual, Balin was excited to have fun in the mall with his new demon friends, old and maybe new.

Loona reached into her wallet and gave the gang some money to spend for themselves during the catch-up.

"Okay, here's some cash, but only because I'm paying you back after those fucking errands." she said, flatly but firmly.

"Thanks Loonie." said Blitzø.

"Remember, best behaviour!" Loona then called as she ran off to find Balin.

"C'mon, Moxxie!" squealed Millie, taking her husband's hand. "I gotta show you my favourite play centre my parents took me to when I was young!"

"Awww."

"With play structures made outta knifes and guns!"

Moxxie then showed to a black look of shock hearing that. "Oh, crumbs." he gulped.

As the imps ran off, Loona then walked over to Balin, who was in front of the toy store window putting on some lip gloss she bought for him.

"You okay, kiddo?" she asked him.

"I don't know, Loona." he replied. "Meeting 'two' new hounds? I know I met Bee and lots of other ones, but I'm just a little nervous."

"What's there to be nervous about?" Loona gave the boy a gentle smile. "Those hounds loved you last night, including the two."

"Really?"

"Mm-hmm. And they're really interested in meeting you." she continued. "As one of Tex's friends, I take his word for it."

Balin then sighed knowing she was right about that.

"Hey." Loona then put a gentle paw on his shoulder. "Remember what I said about hellhound words, sweetie?"

"To trust you?" the boy then chuckled his response. "They're never broken?"

"Good boy." she gave him a couple of gentle pats on the back.

As she handed him her tail to hold onto for safety, the two set off across the mall, passing the food court where Blitzø ordered a whole burger meal.

Before long, the two reached their destination.

"Probably should've taken you here last time." giggled Loona. "But here we are: Frost-Biters!" she then pointed to an ice-cream parlour, making Balin gasp.

"Frost-Biters"was like any other ice-creamery on Earth. The storefront was made out of LED lighting and plastic, and there were so many little kids and teens at this place. Hellhounds in particular, because of a few flavours only they could eat, such as raw meat, bones, and even sheep. But nonetheless, the parlour had ice-cream, gelato, heck: even yoghurt, anything soft-serve related.

"Hell has a Baskin-Robbins...?" he asked in his head as he drooled.

Giggling, Loona then grabbed a couple of towels from a bed & bath store to wipe the salivating boy's chin. "Damn kiddo, you really are a little pup, aren't ya?"

Soon, with warm smiles at each other, even if one of them had teeth as sharper than blades, the two held hands as they walked into the parlour together.

As Balin looked around, he could see the interior was half sundae bar, half fancy restaurant, and was amazed by how stunning it looked.

So fancy, yet, so sweet!

He could see the usual toppings and flavours you'd see in dessert parlours on Earth, but surprisingly, he wasn't scared by some that more enjoyed by Hell's inhabitants.

In his wonder, the boy soon bumped into the back of an olde-English-sheepdog hounded. Thankfully they didn't notice, but Balin accidentally inhaled some of its butt fur, making him choke.

"Shit!" Loona noticed.

She ran over to the boy and spanked the fur out of his throat before his face could turn blue. Before long, Balin then collapsed to his knees with Loona rubbing his back.

"Don't worry, squirt. I got you." she soothed him. "You okay?"

"I'm sorry, Loona." coughed Balin.

"Hey, no, you don't have to be sorry." she replied. "Everyone makes an accident like that. C'mon, this way."

Holding Loona's hand once more, the two walked over to the fancy-restaurant like dining area of the parlour. As they stood at the waiting desk waiting for a waiter to take them to a table, right on cue, one came out to them.

He was a young-adult imp wearing the type of uniform that any ice-cream parlour worker would.

"Howdy-hey! Welcome to Frost-Biters! Where we soft-serve the finest..." the waiter spoke in his goofy accent to the kid, before showing a scowl looking up at Loona. "Oh. It's you. You've gotta be kidding me, Loona."

"Abe, for the last time, I said I paid for the medical bills." she rolled her eyes, displeased to see him too. "What else do ya want?!"

"Wish I could answer that fucking question." the waiter then muttered under his breath looking down at her.

"HEY! Watch your language around my pup!" she barked at him, pulling his collar up to her. "And if you get any funny ideas 'bout my breasts, you die!"

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry." whimpered the employee.

"Well, as long as we're on the same agreement now, I don't see a reason why I can." she spoke more softly with a huff.

"Yo, Loona!" Tex waved to the two from behind the employee. "This guy bothering you?"

"NOPE! Not at all!" sweated the waiter.

"By swearing in front of Balin, he was." retorted the hellhound.

Tex then showed a growl-like expression at the waiter. "They're with me. A-hole." he whispered grimly.

"Okay. Fine." the employee then cleared his throat, gesturing them nervously. "Ladies first."

"Thanks, Tex." she spoke to the male hellhound. "C'mon, Balin." she then spoke to the boy, before whispering dead into the waiter's eyes. "Don't make me tear you apart later."

Soon, the three of them began walking through the dining area.

"Sorry you had to witness that." Loona then said to the human boy. "Hope I didn't scare you badly."

"A little. But you did promise to protect me." replied Balin.

"It's true." said Tex. "A thing about mother wolves is that they'll lose their sh... I mean, cool, at anything to protect their cubs. Like, someone drops a melon going grocery shopping and then the mama go all protective."

"Okay, let's not push it that far, Tex." chuckled Loona.

The three made it to the booth they were booked for. Balin couldn't see the guests yet and they couldn't see him either, but Tex had a plan to introduce them, as he ducked around the bend.

"Hey, girls, I wanna ask you again." he began whispering on the other side. "You're all ears? Funny. Now, how would you both react if a human child was in Hell?"

"Well, duh. I'd love the little guy all day long, kisses, cuddles and all." the first one said.

"Yeah, and I'd be the bestest friend he or she could ever ask for." the second one added.

"Why?" they asked in unison. These girls both sounded young.

"Because my friend rescued one about a week ago now and has been taking care of him." Tex explained in an acting tone, before giving the two the signal to come out. "Isn't that right, Loona?"

As the two stepped forward, the boy then widened his eyes at who he was seeing. "Whoa."

Soon, once the two girls, two gorgeous young-adult hellhounds, laid their eyes on Balin for the first time since Bee's party, they immediately fell in love with him.

"Awwww!" they both cooed. "So cute!"

NEPTUNE:
Neptune was a border-collie hellhound with the usual black-and-white fur, along with an all-white mane and a long black fluffy tail. While her head was like a normal collie dog's, she had the slim body of a 23-year-old. She also had silver hair like Loona, wore a country shirt, along with a diamond piercing on her snout.

MARIJIANA:
Marijiana was a Great Pyrenees hound. Her whole body was covered from head to toe with white fluffy fur, which was even covered with blue frosted tips. She was a huge punk-rock dresser, with an even bushier tail and perky wolf-like ears.

"Hello there, kid." cooed Neptune. "OMS Tex, you never told us he looked like a little baby. Ohh."

"What's your name, honey?" asked Marijiana softly.

Tex then chuckled at the two hounds' behaviour, seeing this little human boy. "So Balin, these are Bee's good friends, Neptune and Marijiana."

"Nice to meet you, Balin." the two hounds said together as they tails wagged.

"You can sit in between us if you'd like." said Marijiana.

"Yeah, good luck getting him to." scoffed Loona with a chuckle. "He's a little... shy."

"Oh, you don't have to worry, honey." said Neptune softly. "We don't eat humans."

"Who said anything about eating?" giggled Balin nervously.

"Well we won't hurt you." replied the border-collie. "Me and my girlfriend love humans."

Balin then took a deep breath, walked over to the booth, and sat in between the two already-loving hellhounds.

"See? We aren't laying a bad claw on you, aren't we?" smiled Marijiana.

They soon began rubbing their warm furry bodies against the boy to build their bond, which made Balin giggle and sigh in relaxation with a wry smile.

"Awww. Is this relaxing, baby?" cooed Neptune again.

While Tex's tail wagged in awe, Loona just took a picture of this moment. "Okay, 'this' is fucking beautiful." she thought to herself.

"There we go. Now we're friends." the two new hounds spoke together again.

"So, tell us a little about yourself, darling." said Neptune, while Marijiana perked up her ears.

"Well, I'm 7-years-old, I'm from a country called Australia," he began explaining, as the two hound girls listened closely. "And I love movies and music."

"What sorts?" asked Marijiana.

"I like to watch the Toy Story movies." replied the boy. "I also like rock and pop music too."

"And we like your style, little dude." the Great Pyrenees hound then ruffled his hair like Loona would. "So what made Loona bring you here? Did something happen in your world?"

Balin then rubbed his head, feeling unsure of how to answer this once again, until Loona answered for him.

"I found him alone during one of my missions with my dad's company and took him home." she replied. "And uh... while he's still recovering, he's been somewhat brave."

"Recovering from what?" asked Neptune.

With a gulp, Balin then began telling the two his emotional story, trying to remain discrete since they were in public. He told them about how his parents were forced into witness protection without him, since he didn't witness the murder they saw, and about his time living on the streets since escaping his foster home until Loona brought him home to patch him up.

"You... you really went through all that?" Marijiana asked in shock.

"Uh-huh."

"I am so so so sorry. You poor little puppy." Neptune choked a little, as she rubbed his head in sympathy and heartbreak. "Come here, baby."

Balin then crawled over to the border collie, then she picked him up cradling him in her arms like a baby.

"Your fur's so soft, Ms. Neptune." he smiled warmly.

"Why thank you, kind little Balin." she then showed a warm smile herself. "Wanna have a pet of it?"

As Balin the started gliding his fingers through the white patch of fur on her chest, Neptune began panting with her tongue out as her tail was still wagging.

Marijiana then giggled seeing this reaction coming from her girlfriend.

"Hey, can you do that for me too, sweetie?" she asked him.

"Sure."

Neptune put him back down in his spot, for Marijiana to lower her head into his lap, so he could give her head pats and ear scratches.

This also made her pant with her tongue out, and whimper at his touch too, as he nuzzled her side into his stomach, making him giggle.

"Hey Tex, how did you know these were my two favourite breeds of dogs?" he asked the buff hellhound, as he continued petting them.

"Oh, uhh, Bee went and told me the little secret you told her at the party." replied Tex.

"Hmm... gotta watch what you say around here." added Loona in a tease.

Balin then blushed and rubbed his head in modesty, before turning back to his two admirers. "Are you good girls feeling better now?" he asked them.

"Yep." replied Neptune as her tail continued wagging, but in surprise. "Wait, we're your good girls?"

"Well, you girls are very pretty, and I'd love to be your friend."

"Awww. We love you too, Balin." they sang in unison.

Soon, the two began kissing the boy all over his cheeks to make him laugh and blush harder, while Tex and Loona just chuckled seeing this display.

"Alright, with that settled, why not celebrate this meeting with some ice-cream?" said Tex.

"YAY!" shouted Balin.

"Yay!" repeated Marijiana and Neptune in response, with the collie giving him two more kisses and the Pyrenean mountain dog ruffling his hair again.

...

At the sundae bar, Tex, Loona, and Balin made all five of their ice-cream cups and cones, added their toppings, paid for them at the counter, and then made their way back to the booth.

All four hounds two cups and cones each with raw meat ice-cream.

"Mmm... nice and meaty..." moaned Loona as she wolfed down her sweet treat as usual, while everyone else just licked theirs or ate it with spoons. "...Just like our little Balin here." she then added, teasing the little boy.

"Why are you all looking at me?" Balin played along. "I don't have any meat on me."

His innocence made the other hellhounds laugh as they continued their ice-creams.

As the boy licked away at his cotton candy flavoured ice-cream, he soon got a little dab under his nose, which looked a lot like the moustache of Mitch Grassi from Pentatonix.

Seeing that made Marijiana stick out her tongue and lick it off. "All gone." she sang, making him giggle.

"Hey. Only I get to do the licking around here, missy." teased Loona.

This made the two hellhound girls laugh, but at the same time, they were surprised to actually hear that too.

"So Balin, after this, how'd you like to spend the rest of today here with us?" asked Neptune.

"Yeah, sounds like fun." replied Balin in a smile.

"Sweet! I'm sure Bee would like to hang out as well." added Tex.

As Tex started texting, Balin cheekily went back to giving Neptune and Marijiana some more doggy affection, softly scratching their furry backs without them knowing, soon making them shake their legs up and down under the table as they panted again.

Loona then chuckled a little again, knowing that Balin had just made two more new friends.

A/N: (GUEST STARRING)

Amber Riley as Neptune

Liliana Mumy as Marijiana

See y'all in the next chapter.