DieKleineHexeCapraiaOfTheReich;

"Definitively there will be some disparities, but overall I will make it simple. I rather not go too deep into this kind of topic. Thanks again!"

Guest;

"Errr, future is uncertain."

PuzzleMaster1998;

"Thanks :)"

grievousrommel;

"Errr, not that the show has many ships to start with, anything is pretty much crack aside Millie x Moxxie. :P"

Wingcommander WhiteWolf;

"Hmmm, sheep Vortex?"

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"Alright, how about gray with dark wool? Also on the wings, will look somewhat more stylish!"

"You do you, or ask him what he prefers, I'm not the one getting make up."

"Make up!? Oh, come on Loons, my work is way more than something cheap like that!"

"Sure, but can you do it or not? Doesn't look like anything changed at all."

"It is... rather strange. Your, heh, friend seems to have created some sort of protection to cursory spells. I guess that was expected after ending up in such an horrible state by doing experiments with unknown spells. Consider yourself lucky you didn't turn into several tiny pieces young man."

"Y-yeah, lucky..."

Collin eyed the strange female Imp nervously, extremely weary of her rather unsettling eyes watching him like a predator. Loona was standing nearby, sitting on a chair while busying herself with her phone, looking bored as much she could. Although there were times she would throw glances their way, as if she was making sure her 'friend' wasn't doing more than the service required.

The Imp's name is Stlylas, which suited the extravagance of her current workplace, which more resembled a tattoo shop, but with extremely morbid furniture. Loona thought it would be the time to call in an old favor from this particular Imp. It didn't surprise Collin much that the wolf was acquainted with someone who worked in such a place, he briefly wondered if Loona had made some tattoos in this place.

Stlylas proved she could be more than a skillful skin painter, for her rather uncommon ability of being able to shape other creatures into something more desirable, which often meant changing some specific attributes like fur, hair, or even scales. Her way of doing such formidable changes involved the use of cursed spells, of which Collin wasn't very keen on trying at first. Loona, as soon she noticed his attempt of objecting against such spells being used on him, tried to stomp his foot to make him shut up, but she only accomplished hurting herself as his hooves proved to be rather enduring. She swore like no tomorrow after Stlylas was at a safe distance, giving him very menacing glares while demanding him to keep quiet and let her do the spells.

The spells quickly proved to be unsuccessful, for Collin felt some tingling sensations on his skin but nothing really changed. Stlylas grew curious as she tried a wider variety of enchantments to no avail. She sighed in contempt.

"Alright, a challenge, huh? I like those! Now... let's try something more basic. Maybe... not cursed ones this time." She recited the basic formulas from her mind, feeling a bit hesitant as she slowly reminded herself of how to use those. "Okay... let's try... ah! Finally!"

"Oh, that sure did work." Loona commented as she watched Collin's wool change from pale purple to complete pitch black. "Ha! You're now the black sheep of the family!" She said with a touch of sarcasm. Collin couldn't help but quip back.

"Glad to hear I'm already considered a family member though." He said with a touch of irony, to which Loona reacted with a snort.

"Who knows? Blitzo is always bitching for some more attention, he may hate your sorry ass but he will get used to it."

"That's reaaaallly comforting." The sheep really wasn't very thrilled about the idea of getting along with Blitzo, at least Millie and Moxxie seemed more open to acknowledge him as a person. "Huh, are we still changing something else?"

"Of course!" Stlylas immediately replied, coming closer to inspect her work, the sheep felt unnerved by her sudden proximity. "Hmmm, let's try... this!"

"Gray fur? I guess it's better." Loona commented, watching the process with more interest. "How about the eyes? Maybe red?" She suggested.

"What color will you want for the irises?" Stlylas inquired but Collin wasn't having it.

"Woah, no red eyes! If any color is going to change is only my irises, nothing else!" He protested, looking slightly annoyed. Loona chuckled while Stlylas merely shrugged.

"Fine, it's your body anyway. So... what color then?"

"Oh, huh... how about..." Collin knew that things like blue and green wouldn't make any sense in Hell, it would simply stand out too much. "Golden?"

"You mean amber?Or perhaps orange?" Stlylas countered with a raise of an eyebrow. Collin shook his head. "Fine, golden it is... and... done!"

"That... actually fits him really well." Loona said, surprised by the result. Collin's golden eyes had a rather strong glow to them as they were surrounded by the darkness of his fur. "What about the wings?" Stellar frowned.

"Yes, that particular problem." She started, looking at said appendages with slight suspicion. "I guess I could add the same color as the wool, feathers tend to give a rather reflective effect if they are too dark... and clean of course." She added while walking behind the sheep, looking at his slightly stretched wings limping outwards from the chair. "Hmmm, let's try... ah, yes. This is rather fitting!"

"Black on the outside and grey underneath. Good thinking." Loona said, examining the results with a rather satisfied smirk. "That should do, at least he won't look as much as a freak like he did." Collin rolled his eyes at the remark. "Say, how much?"

"Oh?" Stlylas seemed caught off guard by the question, to which Loona frowned.

"What? This seems like it was a lot of work, I don't feel right not giving you anything." Collin looked up at the Hellhound in surprise, that was a rather considerate thing to do and say, he surely did not expect Loona to have such a display of empathy this openly towards another creature from Hell. Stlylas, who also seemed somewhat surprised, laughed it off.

"Oh, Loons, don't be silly! A favor is a favor, and I've been really busy this month so I'm not desperate or anything. Besides..."

She paused, a knowing smirk on her face as she glanced back at the sheep with mischief. "Something tells me you will need the money to, heh, invest on something else."

"Okayyyy?" Loona looked confused but she wasn't really going to argue about payment anyway. "Thanks again Styls. See ya around?"

"Of course! Make sure you find some proper tail this time!" She teased much to Loona's chagrin.

"Fuck off. Let's go Collin."

The sheep quickly followed after the hound, the idea of ending up far away from her visual range wasn't endearing at all. It was already a blessing they managed to reach the shop without any Demons or Imps trying to get to him, perhaps the presence of a Hellhound at his side was enough of a warning for other creatures to keep minding their own problems. He sighed once they were back at the sidewalk, looking at an empty street. Stlylas shop was a couple blocks away from the center of Imp Town, located at the less populated side of the city. Loona was back on busying herself with her phone, which made the sheep slightly curious why she was always checking on it.

"So, what now? We go back?" Collin asked, hoping to get some conversation going. Loona nodded.

"Yep, you are looking better and we are all stuffed anyway." She replied distractedly, although with a rather humored smile. "Who would know that meat could make your stomach have such a blast."

"It wasn't a blast." Collin replied with a touch of annoyance. "I puked for nearly an hour. It was awful!"

"Yeah, at least it made my excuse of you being the result of a failed experience more convincing, no one would want to get near you, probably thinking you had a disease or something." Loona did enjoy that incident, despite Collin's upsetting. "Hey, at least you got something you could eat later on. As long it wasn't meat, so we got one problem out of the way."

"I suppose." He admitted reluctantly. "Say, mind if I ask you something?"

"Maybe, as long I feel like I care answering." She replied, a slight frown on her face as she kept tapping on her phone. A few minutes went by rather quietly, Loona was occasionally looking around to make sure they were on the right track back to I.M.P's department, but after the silence stretched for so long that she stopped to look back at the sheep, a look of confusion on her face. "Huh, did you say something? I think I missed that."

"I didn't."

"So... you didn't ask me anything yet?"

"No."

'Huh, what's up with him? He's been acting weird after all that puking show. Not that he wasn't weird enough.'

"Shoot! I forgot!"

"Huh, forgot what?" Collin asked, taken aback by Loona's sudden shout. She groaned while pointing towards his chest.

"That clothing of yours is awful. We gotta get something to make you look less like a loser."

"Excuse me?!" Collin felt slightly insulted. "What's wrong with this clothes exactly?"

Loona seemed to realize she may have overdone a bit on her comment. She hesitated, looking unsure of herself for a moment.

"Wait, hum... I... don't think it was those exact words I was..." She hesitated for a moment, but the sheep wasn't really waiting on an cheap excuse.

"Look." He started, sounding really upset for once. "I do not really understand much of clothing, I can admit, but this was made to me by the only person that ever loved me, so I would appreciate if you could at least respect the care that was put into it. Even if respect is something you lack."

"Say that again?" Loona replied, looking down at him with a narrowed look. The sheep sighed, not looking intimidated despite the glare he was receiving.

"My job, well, what used to be my job at least, was to help people. That implied way more than physical tasks, there's also the more personal side of things that I needed to understand. Emotions, reactions, overall expectancy and so on. I learned a lot of how to read and understand other people, especially regarding their behavior towards several different things."

"And?" Loona inquired, not really getting at what the sheep was trying to point it out.

"Loona, I've been knowing of how Cletus and Keenie were going the wrong way about things, but I held back from saying anything. As soon we got here I could tell, they... weren't people I could trust anymore. Now I'm stuck here with I.M.P. The few I saw of you all was enough for me to understand there's a certain amount of attrition going on in between each of you. Would you like me to make some rather inconclusive observations?" He offered, crossing his arms while standing still. The hound blinked, unsure of how to react to his proposal. "Very well, let's start with... you. Since I spent more time watching you than anyone else."

"Doesn't sound wrong at all." She quipped sarcastically, much to his annoyance.

"I'm not that kind of person!" Collin sounded incensed, which surprised Loona.

"Alright, chill dude. Was just joking, sheesh."

"Well, it's hard to tell when someone is not into insulting in a place like this." Collin argued briefly, but quickly calmed himself down after a deep breath. This place was starting to mess with his serenity and he didn't like it one bit. The experiences he went through lately were completely nerve wrecking and being stuck in Hell alongside someone that could chew him like a plushie wasn't making him feel at ease very often. He eyed the hound, a more softening glance expressed on it.

"Loona, you're lonely."

"What? I'm no-

"Just let me finish." He pleaded, to which Loona sighed in defeat. "It's not really that hard to notice that you...tend to be distant most of the time, if not as much as you can from everyone else. Normally I wouldn't blame you? Cause... it is Hell and Imps are... difficult. Yet, Mollie and Moxxie seemed fairly, hum... reasonable? Even so you seem to labor some hatred towards them, to the point you can be quite unfair as they show some care for you. I can tell Millie and Moxxie, despite aware of your temper, still don't mind lending a hand when you might need one. I'm just curious as to why you give them, especially Moxxie, so much, errrr... attitude." He said warily, hoping to not trigger her ire with poorly used words. "It seems you're frustrated cause Millie is happy with someone, and that someone is one you think unworthy of her attention."

"Oh, whoa. That's..." Loona wanted to say it was bullshit, but the sheep nailed that description far too well for her to think on a way to counter it. She grunted, knowing there was no escape out of this one. "Is this some kind of special powers Angels have or something? Mind reading?"

"Don't deviate."

"Okay, fine! I don't really fucking like them! Happy!?"

"Why not?"

"Because!... I..."

Collin patiently awaited as Loona's temper died out, she looked troubled, confused and... guilty?

"I don't get it." Loona said after a moment of contemplative silence. "Millie is a total badass, I actually think that much of her, but Moxxie is... a complete fucking softie. So what he can shoot well?! He doesn't have the same energy, strength or spirit that Millie does when it comes abou-

"About killing people?" Collin concluded with a frown. Loona shrugged helplessly. "Well, I get what you're saying, although maybe you're just upset that Moxxie, being the male counterpart, isn't stronger than Millie?"

"I... well, maybe." Loona, for the first time since they met, sounded meek and distressed. "Isn't that how is supposed to be?"

Collin was finally understanding what was going on in regards to Loona's envy of Moxxie. He wondered how to properly follow through this conversation without upsetting her too much.

"Look, Loona, I get that this may be a Hellhound thing, but a strong, alpha male, isn't exactly a pattern that goes by everywhere. There's nothing wrong with a female taking the protective lead in a relationship. Millie perhaps likes Moxxie so much because of it actually."

"Why though?!" She sounded frustrated, as if the idea of liking a weaker partner was just obnoxious. "She could do so much better, but she choose him!"

"Because love cares not for what you look, but who you are?" Collin replied with a cheesy smile. Loona snorted. "It's true. I mean, there's a lot to consider. We are in Hell. Folks tend to bend to violence more often than not. Would you feel comfortable if, for example, you had a partner that was stronger than you, but also abusive?"

The Hellhound opened her mouth to argue, but stood in silence. She huffed, looking unsure of what to say or what to think. She couldn't really say that the sheep didn't have a point and, to be fair, Loona never thought of that possible outcome before. Hell did have some nasty breed of people. Seeing a couple like Millie and Moxxie was a very unusual thing. Is that why Millie loved Moxxie so much? Because she could trust him to never wish or cause her any sort of harm?

"Look, I-

The sudden vibrations coming from her phone made her stop mid sentence, she glared at the screen only to gasp in shock as the ID showed that Vortex was calling her.

'After all this time you finally decided to pretend I exist?' She thought with a bit of anger. 'This better be good.'

"Loona here, speak." She said with a rather unenthusiastic tone. Collin stood by looking at her with innocent curiosity.

"Hey, Loona, right? How have you been? Made some friends since I last saw you?" Vortex asked rather cheerfully, to which Loona couldn't help but feel slightly more excited about. She eyed Collin briefly, wondering if she could actually account him or not.

"Well, yeah, kinda. One actually. He's... different." She replied hesitantly. Vortex chuckled at the other side of the line.

"That's good, one of many for sure. Say, are you busy tomorrow night?"

"Huuuh, don't think so, why?" Loona felt a rush of anxiety fill her up.

"Say, my girl finally got time to get another party going, these last weeks were rather difficult to gather enough folks to join in. Sooo, do you wanna come? This is going to be a big one, you should bring your friend if you want."

Loona felt the excitement of finally being called upon a party evaporate. How could she go and make sure Collin wouldn't be murdered?

"Y-yeah! So, huh, there's just, huh, this thing." She replied nervously.

"What? Something going at your work?" He asked sympathetically.

"No, no, no! It's just that, ehhh, my friend is... kinda not a, well, a Hellhound, you know, hehe."

"Ohh, that? Pfff, well, as long he ain't a Imp or Demon I don't see why not bringing him in."

"Oh... Oh! Good! Well, he isn't! S-so... see you tomorrow at...?"

"Club house downtown near the Volcanic springs. We are starting around seven on the afternoon, see you there?"

"Sure! Of course! I...we will be there!"

"That's great! See you two tomorrow then, have a good nightmare."

"Yeah, same to you." She replied rather shakily before turning the call off. A look of perplexity on her face, finding it hard to believe she finally was going to interact with more of her kind.

Although...

"Okay, you probably heard that talk." Loona said, looking at the sheep firmly. He nodded mutely, feeling that this may be something important for the Hellhound. "Good, we will have a talk about how to behave tomorrow, and more importantly, DO NOT tell Blitzo about this." Collin raised an eyebrow.

"Is he the controlling type?" Loona scoffed.

"He thinks so, as if. Now... about what you said earlier..." Loona looked at him, this time more softly as she gathered herself after feeling her emotions jumping all over the place. This day was getting far too stretched for her likening, and the sheep was giving her way too much to think about. "I... don't wanna talk about it, not yet anyway. Let's just go back. See what to do about where you're staying for the night and all of that."

"Alright. After you." He offered with a smile. Loona rolled her eyes.

"Quit it with that. It makes me feel weird."

Collin nodded as he followed her back to I.M.P. Yet, once they arrived it was clear that Blitzo had been busy in regards to cleaning the meeting room, or rather, by telling Moxxie and Millie to hurry up. The bossy Imp was still in a foul mood, which only became worse once he saw Loona returning alongside the sheep, although he paused at the change of appearance.

"Well, at least the little shit ain't a sore sight for my eyes anymore. Loony, did you take him somewhere you shouldn't?" He asked rather demanding, which was surprising considering how often Blitzo talked with her like he was stepping on eggshells.

"Yeah, the only place they could fix him up a bit. Didn't take too long. Are you all done cleaning the meeting room?"

"Pff, Moxxie and Millie just finished. Dumped the garbo in the alleyway, the blood was a pain to clean, more than usual anyway. What you're doing with him?" He asked while pointing towards the sheep. "Don't think he has a place to stay anyway."

"Yeah, that's what I wanted to talk with you about." Loona said, her voice becoming much quieter. "He will stay at the office for the night. Unless you have a better idea?"

"For real?! Why you... urgh, fucking whatever! At least be useful and watch for some fuckers trying to break in. If you can keep us from being robbed I can think of even letting you stay any longer." Blitzo warned the sheep with disdain. "Now, keys will stay with Loona. Once we leave doors are locked and you stay here, do you get that?!"

"Y-yeah, I do." Collin replied, not really knowing what else to say.

"Good! I will be heading down for some snacks, all this crazy fuckery let me starving! We close in twelve, Loony. I will be at the parking lot after passing by the crazy wiggled eye McGee that sells hotdogs."

"Sure thing." She replied as the Imp left by the front door. "Fucking finally. Let's get the place set for you to sleep somewhere. Make sure you keep the gun with you at all times, he was serious about break ins." She advised while walking away towards the nearest locker. "Fucking assholes stole a shit ton of stuff from the drawers last time."

"Thrilling." Collin replied with a complete lack of excitement. "What do I do if I shoot them but they are only wounded and immobile?"

"Meh, just kill them off. There's no such thing as Hell Police anyway, no one will give a shit. It will be fun."

"Oh... yeah. Fun."