Balin may have been psyched about going back to his school in the living world, with the assist of Loona's copy of the Grimoire from Stolas. But right now though, back at her apartment, they changed into their new swimwear for a pool party with the I.M.P crew.
In the bathroom, while Balin was changing into his swim-shirt, Loona walked in with a bottle of sunscreen.
Her swimwear was just a plan two-part bikini, which didn't cover most of the... unmentionables, but to her, it seemed better than a bra. Her soft fur was like a dress for dogs or hellhounds.
"Wow, Loona. You look very pretty." smiled Balin.
"Oh, Meal." she knelt down to the boy and hugged him with her tail wagging. She was starting to get used to these warm embraces and kind-hearted compliments "So sweet of you."
As Balin stroked her fur in the hug, he soon felt Loona rubbing his back with some sunscreen.
"Okay, hold still..." she said in concentration. "Just gotta lather some of this onto you..."
"Can you get sunburn in Hell?" Balin asked in surprise,
"Oh yeah." replied Loona. "One time, it was so hurt, this cowlick of fur on my leg caught on fire. Word of advice: Never let Blitzø check the weather app."
Balin then showed a mind-blown expression that made Loona laugh, before continuing to rub her sticky paw along his body, making Balin flustered the whole time. Seeing him melted by her touch, Loona then booped his nose with a little dab, making him laugh too.
"Ooh, someone enjoying this?" she sang with a smirk.
"Yes I am." the boy replied happily. "It's like you're my step-mommy."
Loona then laughed a little louder at his statement and gave him a soft kiss on his cheek with her warm lips. Doing that, she licked the sunblock off her maw and continued rubbing it on his neck.
"OK then... all done." she smiled, patting his back. "You ready for a little skinny-dipping?"
"Mm-hmm." Balin nodded his head once with excitement, but stooped to ask her something a little... sheepish. "Loona? Is the pool... made out of blood?"
"What? No, of course not, buddy. What would make you think that?" Loona replied with little concern, then snapped her fingers having forgot that this was Hell for a second. "...Oh yeah. Well, I am a demon taking care of you, a sweet human child, so anything can happen."
"Okay...?" sighed the kid sheepishly again.
"Don't worry Meal." she kept her warm smile for him. "The pool's really nice, especially this time of year. And you look adorable in your swimmers."
Balin really felt moved by those words, looking down at his gear. His swim-shirt was blue with a grey stingray covered in yellow spots that looked like shining stars splashing out of the water, while his trunks were just plain black.
With a smirk though, Loona soon got on all fours and trotted in between Balin's legs while they were open. Before he knew it, the boy was sitting on Loona's strong but fluffy back.
"Loona?" Balin was very surprised by this move.
"Oh? What's this?" she teased him. "You want a hellhound back ride? Hehehehehe. As you wish."
Loona began crawling around the living room in two circles with a giggling Balin on her back like a horse, until she walked over to the door to let him open and close it as they left.
"Hang on tight, kid." she smirked, extending her back. "You might wanna hang on to this babies."
As Balin gently grabbed onto her breasts, Loona started sprinting off on all fours, out of the apartment and all the way across the streets of Imp City to the pool.
The little human boy laughed almost the entire ride, making Loona smile as she looked up at him. She never once in her wildest dreams thought she'd be doing this, so this was almost absolute fun for her as well.
"WHEE!" Balin went, as some of her long hair was hitting his face.
Some of the demon civilians quickly moved out of the way or got bumped into without Loona realising it as they kept going.
MEANWHILE...
The three imps were getting dressed into their swimsuits at Blitzø's apartment room.
Blitzø was wearing just his boxer shorts, and was just about to wear a bulge patch until Moxxie slapped it out of his hand.
Millie was wearing a monokini while her husband, however, was wearing just a drysuit. ...Which he'd soon realise wasn't sexy in the way he was hoping.
A FEW MOMENTS LATER...
Loona walked up to Blitzø's apartment on all fours with Balin still on her back.
Once she stopped, she crouched down to let him get off, and the boy giggled as he wiping the fur off his trunks.
"Don't worry, the water could help get rid of it." chuckled Loona.
"Thank you for the ride, Loona." replied Balin politely.
"No probs." said the hellhound, twirling her hair in a flush. "I mean, if you were another kid, I would've bucked you right off. But admittedly, that was rather fun."
Before she could say anything else, Balin interrupted her saying: "Don't worry. I won't tell anyone else about this either."
"Good little meal." she smiled, ruffling his hair.
The two began walking up the stairs all the way to the pool where the imp gang were waiting.
"Here we are, freaky weirdos!" she called out to them.
"Hey guys!"
The three imps waved hello to them together.
"Oh, thank God, Loonie!" sighed Blitzø, stroking a beach ball in his hand. "I've been waiting to throw this beach ball at someone. ...I must throw that!"
"Jesus, calm down Blitzø!" cringed Loona, getting annoyed at her dad's habits. "We'll just wait for the others to come up."
"Others?"
"Hey, guys!"
Joining the party was Stolas, Via, Tex, and Bee. Unfortunately, Verosika and Fizz all had plans they couldn't avoid to join them.
"Speak of the devil...s" joked Balin, making the imps laugh.
Loona even let out a little chuckle, but kept her cool knowing she was around colleagues.
"W'sup, lil' man." Tex gave Balin a little fist-pump with his beefy knuckles. "You ready for a little dippin'?"
"Absolutely, Tex!" the boy jumped with joy. "I'm so excited!"
"So how's your family?" Stolas asked him, sitting at one of the deckchairs with Via.
"They're doing great, Mr. Stolas." he replied happily. "They're living in a beautiful beach house."
Loona was glad to see he was finally feeling a little better about them as he spoke.
"Wow, that's rather nice." smiled Via. "Anything else exciting happening now that you're a friend of Hell?"
"Well, I'm going back to school very soon."
Everyone was so thrilled to have heard that, especially as Millie ran up to him for another tight hug as always.
"You got back in? Ooh! I'm so thrilled to hear, darling." she cooed, nuzzling her cheek into his.
Loona grabbed a red wine bottle from the RC Cola machine when she saw Moxxie in his drysuit.
"Oh my God, Fatty! What the fu... are you wearing?!" she laughed out loud.
"If you must know, Mama Wolf, it's a drysuit." responded Moxxie, suddenly making Loona snarl at him. "What? I can't swear in front of the kid AND I can't commend you either?"
"Whatever." sighed Loona, before leaving with her red wine and sitting in a nearby deckchair.
She then popped the cork on her wine bottle with her claws, so hard, it accidentally killed the lifeguard imp sleeping on duty, going through his skull like a thin laser to the head.
"Okay gang! Let's get some burns!" Blitzø energetically announced to everyone as he somersaulted into the pool.
"Right back at ya, sir!" Millie followed him with a splash. "I'll be with you, hon!" added Moxxie, as he walked into the high dive and jumped in with a cannonball.
Balin however walked slowly into the pool from the stairs at the shallow end, feeling the freezing water touch his little toes and skinny little legs.
Via noticed him shaking as he she swam about and over to him sympathetically.
"Hey, it's okay darling." she said in a motherly tone. "Nothing's gonna happen, I promise."
"I know, Via. It's just so... brrr...!" he shivered.
"Yeah. It's understandable." she giggled. "Hehehehehehe. Here, I'll warm you up until the water does. Okay?"
Via then snuggled him against her feathery chest as she gently glided him further into the cold pool waters. A few seconds passed, and Balin's shivering started dying into warmth.
"See? It's not so bad." she smiled at him, before rubbing her hand against his cheek and whispering: "You're my new favourite pool toy..." with a tease.
As Moxxie and Millie played catch with the beach ball, Via taught Balin all kinds of strokes and floats. And he soon managed quickly to do it on his own, swimming about like a seal or a even a puppy.
Loona looked up from her phone at all the action as she wore her sunhat, and decided it was time for her to have a swim. So she walked up to the loving duo who were still having a good time.
"Y'all mind if I hop in?" asked the hellhound, crouching down to Balin and Via.
"Be our guest." replied Via, moving out of the way.
But Balin accidentally splashed Loona's face with one of his strokes, making her show a cheekily evil look at him.
"Ooh! It's like that, huh? Wanna fight?!" she laughed as she then used one of her hands to splash Balin multiple times in retaliation. "You like that, don't ya! Do ya like that?"
Before long, the two were laughing and splashing at each other for fun, until Balin tugged Loona into the pool by her arm. She then swam up to him and grabbed him from behind, giggling and cuddling into him.
As everyone awed the cute display, Stolas soon used a little magic from his fingers to turn on some music on through the loud speakers.
...
'Sh-Boom!' by The Chords.
A/N: I remember when I first read 'Loona the Caretaker', during the pool chapter, I imagined this song playing over a montage of pool games, and it's so cool to bring that fantasy to life with this story.
...
MONTAGE:
A ton of pool games were played during the musical montage:
GAME #1: Balin played a game of chicken fight with M&M as he sat on Loona's shoulders. Thanks to Millie's brute strength, the couple would always win, until Balin soon found a way to win. He began tackling her waist with one hand, making her lose balance on Moxxie's shoulders as she giggled and fall into the water.
GAME #2: Everyone was split into two groups of four for a game of water polo, as Blitzø kept score.
GAME #3: Everyone started playing Marco Polo in groups of two, trying to steer one spouse clear of the other. One game, Moxxie wandered too far out of the pool with his eyes closed, until he fell off the balcony and into a truck full of vegetables. He opened his eyes in calamity and groaned while everyone else chuckled a little. Loona just laughed the most using Millie's tail like a bungee cord to pull her husband out.
GAME #4: With a lick of her paw, Loona moulded her wiry grey hair to look like a shark fin and then ducked into the water, swimming up to Balin with the fin sticking out in the air.
"SHARK!" he screamed and tried to swim away, but soon, Loona caught him and attacked him with a barrage of kisses, making everyone laugh. Especially Balin.
GAME #5: Balin began to do some synchronised swimming and everyone watched as he showed off some impressive moves, as if he was dancing in the water. Soon, the I.M.P gang joined in on the dancing while everyone else still watched.
GAME #6: Finally, Balin introduced everyone to a traditional Australian pool game called Crocodile Hunter, where they had to snag a crocodile floaty with a hula-hoop, one hoop per player, by either the snout or tail. And when they got on their back, they had to paddle their way to the finish line at the shallow end of the pool.
Soon, Moxxie won the race and celebrated, before seeing Balin and Loona swimming slowly past. The boy was resting on Loona's wet but super warm and furry chest as she floated across the water.
MONTAGE ENDS
...
As everyone else continued playing and Balin slept on her chest in peace, he started having little bad dreams again and Loona noticed it due to his flinching and twitching.
In the nightmare, Balin was getting chased by a hoard of hellhounds and little succubi girls, while every kid in his school ignored him and told him to: 'GO AWAY BEFORE YOU KILL US ALL, LIABILITY!'
Loona tried to shake his side to wake him up and see if he was okay, but with him on her fur, it was now use. So she wrapped her arms around him and placed her softly smiling snout underneath his head.
With that, the nightmare turned into a dream, one set at the school's basketball court in the playground. Next thing Balin knew, he was playing football with his friends while Loona recorded everything on her phone with the I.M.P gang supporting him with cardboard box pieces saying 'Go Balin!'
Afterwards, the kid soon woke up and fell off Loona into the water by surprise.
Everyone else gasped having noticed it, and Loona quickly grabbed him out of the water as he began coughing like he swallowed some of the water. So with gentle pats on the back, like she was burping a baby, he managed to get some of the water out of his windpipe, making him spew it out.
"You okay, bud?" she asked as he breathed heavily.
"I am now, Loona." Balin breathed in and out with relief. "Thank you."
"Don't mention it." the hellhound smiled as she walked him out of the water. "Were you having a nightmare again?"
"Uh-huh. I dreamt I was being called a liability again. By my classmates." he replied. "But I know I'm not one. Perhaps I'm, just a little excited."
"Guess you are." Loona snickered.
"Just continue trying not to worry about it, sport." said Moxxie kindly.
"Is there anything you'd like us to get you?" asked Bee even kinder.
"Hmm... do you have any Beezlejuice?" the boy asked a follow-up question.
"Sorry, didn't bring any." she replied regretfully.
"That's okay. I'll just have a coke instead, please. That'll calm me down."
"Sure thing, sweet thing." the queen said with a smile.
Bee buzzed from the pool to the vending machine and got him the drink he requested. She threw it to Loona, who popped the cork properly with one of her fangs, and gave it to him. She still held him in her arms as he drank the beverage and everyone embraced him.
Blitzø and Stolas however watched the action in awe from their deckchairs.
"You know, somehow, in spite of all that has been happening..." Stolas said to Blitzø. "I think he made the right choice of staying."
"What do you mean?" Blitzø looked to him.
"Even if he doesn't get to Stella, he sure knows how to find the angel in a demon's heart. Some of which could be the monstrous kind, miraculously."
"Like... like, my Loonie?"
"Given time? Yes." Stolas replied. "Still think she could be a mother to him?"
"I don't know." the boss imp rubbed his head. "Even if she did, even if she was a good one, she'd never admit it to me. The one guy in her life who probably would've embraced her for such a life."
Stolas then looked to the group with a smile across his beak.
"Blitzy? I think, time isn't really the length of hours, minutes, or seconds." he explained in a sultry expression. "But a concept where there's more room to grow and grasp. Whether it takes that kind of time or not. Seeing everyone in this moment of it, I feel like there's more opportunity awaiting for these two, whether they're different to us or not."
Blitzø looked up at Stolas with stars in his eyes, knowing he'd never thought of that during their relationship together. He softly held his hand looking away with a flustered expression, tracing his fingers up the feathers on his wrist slowly and making Stolas feel pretty enamoured by it.
Just then, Blitzø's 'screaming' ringtone went off.
"Hello, I.M.P, who the fuck is calling during closed hours?" he answered with a whisper.
"Uh, hi, Mr. Blitzø." Neptune said through the phone. "This is Neptune and Marijiana? The hounds you spoke with at the mall the other day?"
"Oh yeah...! Totally haven't forgot. What's up, ladies?"
"Well, we had a think about it, looked over our school scehdules, and I believe we came to a solution." said Marijiana.
"We'd be happy to see if we could work for you and your bonkers company." added Neptune.
Blitzø chuckled with success, knowing he managed to find a couple of new potential employees.
"Alright. If you'd like to come in for some training this weekend, that'd be great. Then we'll see what sticks." he said.
"Okay bye!" the hellhounds said individually. "See you soon!"
"Who was that, Blitzø?" asked Loona, now in a pool gown carrying Balin in her arms.
"Looks like we might have some new interns." he grinned.
"You mean, those two groupie hounds from the mall?"
Blitzø rapidly nodded at her in response.
"Cool." Loona blankly shrugged, while Balin just quietly said 'Yes!' like it was a victory, causing the two grown-ups to laugh.
A/N: See y'all in the next chapter.