"So... how do I look?"
"Huh, t-the same? You're using the same clothes and you didn't change your hair, tail or anything else."
"Fuck, that's about right, hmmm... maybe I should get something else? I could use new clothes I guess. We also need to get you something too."
"I don't think it's necessary."
"The fuck it isn't. I won't take you to this party using... that. Okay? It simply won't do."
"Do I really have to go there?"
"Yes, I already told Tex I would bring you. Besides, would you rather come or be alone here for another night?"
Collin scoffed. The previous night in the department, while uneventful, was rather difficult to get by, especially due the amount of screams that were very audible across the building. Not to mention other rather embarrassing noises. The sheep was thankful nobody tried to break in, despite Blitzo's constant warnings in that regard. He slept for only few hours, something he never actually had to worry about, his body would suffer if not properly rested and Collin had to grasp the concepts of using a bathroom by himself.
Loona, after arriving early in the morning alongside a rather grumpy Blitzo, was thoughtful enough to bring him something for breakfast. Collin actually spent the night without eating anything and it bothered him that his body would become so demanding on food, otherwise he wouldn't have enough strength for anything. Blitzo pointedly ignored him during all morning, not that Collin would care anyway, the less Blitzo looked his way the better. Millie and Moxxie arrived shortly after, both looking enthusiastic for another day at work, which confused Collin. It wasn't like there was much to do around unless they have a call asking for a service. Although the sheep suspected they were just generally happy whenever the situation simply due them being together. The couple would never stop intriguing Collin in regards they closeness and openly affection.
Loona, after being bored out of her mind while carrying the monotonous task of filling paperwork of some kind, decided to pull her phone out to check for any interesting news, but she might as well be staring at the wall. She expressed her boredom by constantly flicking through the screen, looking rather distracted while stealing glances towards the sheep. Collin spent most of the morning at the sofa, eyes closed and a concentrated look on his face. The wolf wasn't sure what he been up to, but she didn't bother trying to pull any sort of conversation. Loona carried through the whole night everything Collin said to her the previous day, and it was really bothering her to have someone like him to so easily read her emotions, it wasn't like someone in Hell would ever care to figure out, or even have the ability to do such.
The sheep has been rather... acceptable. She wasn't sure how else to describe him, or the way she felt about him. He was alright, and perhaps even more interesting than she would care to admit. He reminded her of Moxxie in some ways, but something about him felt more tolerable than the Imp. She was just starting to realize that she might want to talk with him more often, which was a bizarre thing for her to do all of sudden with anyone.
'Collin is... I don't know. He looks different, talks different, behaves different, but... is not really bad at all.'
"No, I rather not be by myself again, this place is rather disturbing at night." The sheep replied after a long pause.
Loona blinked. She didn't even notice how far off on her own thoughts she had been dwelling into. Her eyes found Collin still sitting at the couch, although his attention was focused at the wolfness this time around. She was starting to have a hard time on not locking eyes with him for too long.
"If you say so. Look, we need to get something for you to use today, I get you may be attached to your clothes for whatever reason, but I can't have someone dressing like that in this party by my side. It's embarrassing!"
"Oh, this is that kind of party." Collin replied with an understanding nod. "Okay, I can try something else, but we don't really need to go anywhere. I can just summon some clothing."
"Wait... what? You can do that?" She asked with a puzzled look. Collin shrugged.
"Sure, I've trying to get in touch with the spells while I was meditating."
"That's what you were doing this whole time at the couch? Spacing out?" She couldn't help a chuckle at how silly it sounded. The sheep rolled his eyes in aggravation.
"Noooo, I was focusing more properly, that's what it is. Now, what do you exactly want me to use? Any suggestions? I don't really know what should I be using for such occasions anyway."
"Well, a few things I think. Not much I can really suggest for your type of... well, you. Let's start with a more...errr, challenging look maybe? You look too soft, use something to build up a more intimidating appearance." She suggested. Collin nodded pensively.
"Maybe... oh! How about the biker style?" He said with a bit of excitement. "I always found incredible how tough and cool these humans looked when riding their weird bikes."
"What is a biker style? And...humans? Cool? Are you serious?" Loona asked ironically. Collin scoffed.
"Humans are more than just evil, vengeful, psychopaths. There's the good kind of people in their mist also. You can say and think any you want of them, but never underestimate humans." He said defiantly, to which Loona couldn't help but snicker. "Fine, be that way. I guess I won't convince you otherwise until you meet a more decent human being."
"The only ones I met either wanted to get laid or kill me. I don't really have a reason to think any better of them." She replied derisively. Collin rolled his eyes in frustration. "If anything they are complete morons, especially the secret agency ones."
The sheep raised an eyebrow, looking back at the wolf in wonder.
"What agency you're talking about?"
"There was this bunch of morons called Dorks or whatever. All using smoking suits and fucking swords and other crap as weapons. It's like this idiots think we would fight with claws or fangs just cause we came from Hell or something."
"Well, considering how often humans have a portray of Hell being mostly about monsters, I cannot really argue their reasons of using such tools, Heaven also provides us with such archaic weapons, like magical crossbows." The sheep reasoned.
"What about that gun you have? Where did you get that?" She quickly asked, looking at him with skepticism. The sheep frowned.
"Like I said yesterday, Striker gave us those, but they were enchanted. It's far more powerful towards Demons than regular humans or Heaven folk. Yet, the enchantment ceased from working once we entered Hell. I'm not really sure if Striker cursed the guns or if it was something else that made them stop working properly."
"They still can kill, even without the spell thing." Loona pointed out. Collin shook his head.
"It's meant to kill strong Demons, conventional guns won't hurt them. Anything less than a strong Demon Lord would surely die in one hit."
"Damn, that's some serious shit then. Good thing these clowns had no chance of hitting us. Thanks to you of course." She added with a tiny smile. Collin wasn't sure if he could share that sentiment of relief, getting Cletus and Keenie killed was never going make him feel at peace with such memory.
Loona seemed to notice that Collin's mood shifted for the worse, his eyes were downcast and he looked forlorn. She sighed, aware of the troubling thoughts going in his mind right now. She raised from her office chair, making her way towards the couch, eyes traveling sideways to make sure Blitzo was busy attending to their latest client alongside Millie and Moxxie while inside the meeting room. She slowly took a seat by his side, feeling hesitant of what to say as his saddened eyes found hers.
"Hey, dude, don't do that, okay? You... I get that you feel bad for what happened, but never think it's your fault. I mean, they made their choice, you know? You... made a different one! Which, huh... I'm glad you did. I don't think... losing Blitzo and the others like that would... It really would have sucked. Bad. Just don't tell them I said that." She added more firmly, giving him a quick narrow look before softening up. "I get that those two may have been your friends for a while. I wouldn't know what's like to lose a friend like that. Never had any, heheh. Soooo, huh, yeah... I, hum..."
"Thanks Loona, it means a lot." Collin said, surprising her momentarily. She blinked, looking confused for a moment.
"Huh, was that alright? I mean, I didn't finish or anything, and I sounded really lame and-
"It was great to be honest. You don't need to have an eloquent speech or anything of the sort." He replied, looking at her with genuine gratefulness. "It's the intent that matters, the way you do it not so much. I'm really... well, hard to find a word to describe, but... how about-
"I'm not giving you a hug." She cut him off with a deadpanned look. Collin sighed, ears dropping slightly.
"Oh, I guess I'm being naive. My bad." He apologized quickly, which made Loona feel a bit bad about it. She groaned in despair before quickly glancing back to the door nearby.
"Fine, but don't you get used to this, I'm not into this kind of weird stuff." She said quickly, to which Collin couldn't help but be amused about.
"What? Hugging? I don't get it, what do you expect to do if you ever get into a more serious relationship?"
"Fucking, what else?" She boldly replied, which made the sheep's eyes widen considerably.
"Really? Is that all you think there is to it?" He prodded to which Loona seemed even more confused.
"What? What could even be better in a relationship than sex?" Collin sighed heavily.
"To be honest, I can't really tell exactly, cause... well, reasons." A blush made way to his face to which the wolf quickly noticed. She laughed once she realized the truth.
"Wait! Don't tell me you're a fucking virgin? And you're twenty something?!" Loona actually looked befuddled. Collin felt very uncomfortable all of sudden.
"Is not a big deal." He defended meekly. Thankfully Loona decided to spare him the embarrassment and tried to keep the talk going, even if she was struggling to not burst into laughter.
"S-so let me get this straight, pffff! I mean, don't folk in Heaven ever fuck around?" She sounded genuinely curious for once and that caught Collin by surprise.
"Well, it's... complicated." Collin replied, suddenly wishing she would just drop on the floor and laugh at him endlessly instead. Loona snorted, unsure of how getting laid could ever be complicated.
"Tell me, I wanna know how hard it is for your type to get around. Fuck, Heaven must really suck if you're all uptight like that."
"In a way." Collin admitted, surprising himself even. Loona raised an eyebrow at him.
"Okaaay? Wasn't actually expecting an honest response. I swear it's like it sounds that you didn't like Heaven that much." She commented, to which Collin frowned.
"I cannot say Heaven is bad, never would." He started firmly, only to feel his sudden resolve vaporize instantaneously. "Well, it could get dull really quick. Exciting isn't a word I would use to describe Heaven, nor adventurous."
"Oooh, I see. So you hope to get some action while you're here?" She asked with a toothy smirk. Collin sputtered briefly on his own words before regaining his bearings.
"Look, Heaven's romantic relationships are a serious matter! You can't just be with someone and jump to another person for the sake of physical satisfaction."
"For fuck sake dude, use words that make you sound like a mature adult, not a nerd." She complained, her frustration clear as she let out a rather dramatic breath. Collin frowned slight but acquiesced her request.
"Is this one of the reasons you dislike Moxxie though? I noticed he can have such patterns of speech." Collin inquired, looking expectantly at her. Loona was just laying on the couch rather lazily, her legs spread in a very unlady-like fashion, leaning back while keeping her eyes glued to her phone.
"Yeah, he bores me to death at times. Then there's these moments I have no idea what the fuck he is on about. Can you not do that?"
"Of course, if it bothers you so much I can refr- stop being so elo- uhhh, fancy with words." He corrected himself, feeling odd by using such simplistic vocabulary. "So, about the... huh, s-sex stuff, I... don't really think I was ever going to get that far with anyone in Heaven. I mean, there's one I liked in a way, but getting to that point could take years."
"Holy shit, how the fuck can you even manage? I would blow from the stress of waiting that long." She said, looking partially astonished. Collin chuckled nervously.
"Err, well, it is that way cause Heaven isn't a place to be promis- errr, get laid cause you feel the need." He pointed out as if it was obvious, but Loona wasn't really looking at him. "Loona, can you please look at me when I'm talking with you? I cannot be sure if you're listening if you-
"I use my ears to listen, not my eyes." She immediately countered, sounding a bit annoyed.
"Well, yeah. Yet, it's about being respectful to another, it's a way to show you actually care for what they say." Collin tried to reason with her, but he didn't expect much results. When the wolfness remained motionless he sighed in defeat. "What do you even keep checking on the phone anyway?"
This time she actually looked back at him, raising an eyebrow while portraying a menacing glare.
"What does it matter to you? My problems only."
Collin didn't say anything after that. A rather deafening silence followed, to which Loona tried to ignore as the minutes went by, but the sheep's quietness was getting to her. She expected him to start saying something at any moment, but he didn't. She glanced briefly his way few times, but only saw Collin staring ahead into nothing, looking like a frozen statue. That silence felt wrong and she couldn't explain why, but after another ten minutes went by she couldn't take it anymore.
"What's up? You being quiet for too long." She asked, looking at him with a bit of worry. Collin merely shrugged but uttered not words. Loona huffed, feeling slightly apprehensive all of sudden. Was he upset due her rudeness? She couldn't really tell.
'He shouldn't be upset if I get mad at him for butting in into my stuff.' She thought, reasoning with herself. 'But... I guess I could lay him off less brutally next time.'
Loona was very tempted to call him a wuss for letting himself feel hurt for just a few words, but there's clearly more to that than being upset due a reprimand.
"I didn't mean to be invasive."
She perked her ears, looking at him wearily. She wasn't really expecting him to start talking after so long. He seemed sad, although contemplative.
"I guess I sounded like a nosy type, but... I was just curious, I mean. I feel like I could help you, if you're having issues with something, even if you think it's not important. I guess I'm a bit disappointed you wouldn't trust me with something minimal, at least I think it is."
His explanation was somewhat reasonable, but she really couldn't just go with it entirely.
"I get what you're saying, but don't. I'm fine, if I need anything I will ask you, maybe. I... didn't mean to upset you. The problems I have you cannot really fix." She replied, a somber feeling taking over her, voice filling with sorrowfulness.
"Like what? I'm sure if yo-
"Collin, you can't! OK?! I'm fucking sick!" She shouted at him, a glare that was not enough to hide the pain in her voice. The sheep stared apprehensively. He felt fear take over for a second, but quickly smashed that feeling away. He knew that Loona used intimidation to scare others away from her.
"W-What do you mean, sick? That you have some inner desire of mutilating or something?" Loona chuckled bitterly, she looked exhausted as she leaned back into the couch.
"No, just... some bad choices I made back then. I was... eager and... desperate to feel wanted." Collin leaned his head slightly, as it became difficult to hear her as she was nearly whispering. "I found someone, but... they were sick, and... I became sick too."
A light of understanding shone in Collin's golden eyes, he stood from the couch, looking perplexed but also excited all of sudden.
"Oh!That! Why didn't you... nevermind. I can see why this isn't something you wouldn't like to talk about." The sheep said empathetically. Loona only nodded, her eyes fixed on the roof as to hide away the flush of embarrassment she felt. "Well, let's cure you then."
'What the fuck he just said?...'
She lowered her attention towards the eager sheep, he seemed far too confident and it unnerved her greatly.
"Is this some kind of fucking joke? Even for Hell that's fucked." She asked, a sudden trembling on her voice as the Hellhound slowly raised on her feet, looking down at the sheep with a mix of shock and anger. "I swear if you're fucking around-
"Loona!I'm not joking!I wouldn't do something like that on such a delicate matter! You know it!" Collin being very upset this time around, which was enough proof for the wolfness that he's being serious on that matter. She looked fearful, not daring to think what the sheep's proposing is even possible.
"It can't be. There's no cure for such a t-thing. I would know!" She argued desperately. Collin's frown softened as he watched her fragile side coming into view. For once she didn't look like a terrifying creature from Hell set on chewing guts and eating souls, but rather a troubled young woman fearful of her predicament.
"Well, it is a physical issue. My spell heals any physical wounds. Technically that's a wound, but that works in a different way." He explained very softly. Loona brought her hands to her muzzle, eyes shut forcefully, her breath was ragged and she seemed on the verge of tears. The sudden change was actually shocking to witness, Collin couldn't help but feel extremely sorry for the pain she clearly had been enduring withing herself because of such incident. He raised a tempted hoof towards her, feeling very uncertain if such move was even safe to do regarding who she is, but at this moment he couldn't really just stand still and let her endure that emotional flow by herself.
His fingered hoof reached at her elbow, Loona didn't react to it. Her grasped her arm gently as possible, to which he felt the surprising softness of her fur. Clearly the Hellhound took care of herself well enough to not let her appearance wear down. She was trembling lightly, but managing to keep herself from an emotional outburst.
"W-Will... it work?" She asked, voice barely above a whisper.
"We can try and see if it does. I rather not make any promises, I did have some changes when making into Hell. Charging the spell takes a minute at least, if I want to be sure it will heal everything, and... no, it will not brainwash you or anything." He added with a chuckle, attempting to cheer her up a bit. Loona shook her head in disbelief.
"If this actually works..." She started, giving him a very intense glance, to which Collin felt very uneasy. "... I will fuck you until next week."
'I-I'm sorry, what?!'
Collin stood speechless, his mind blank as he looked back at the Hellhound in absolute silence. He felt glued to his current spot, suddenly nowhere near as confident as he was feeling seconds ago. He let out a nervous laugh, unsure if this was just a twisted joke of hers.
"Oh, ha, that, huh. Nice one, errr... let's just not get carried away." Collin replied nervously. Loona suddenly grabbed his shoulders, Collin's blood ran cold at that very moment, eyes the size of diner plates as the Hellhound's head came close to his.
"You fix me... and I will pound on you like no dream of yours could ever offer."
'Holy s- urgh! S-She's serious!'
Collin's panic came into view, he sputtered words without any meaning, but she quieted him down quickly by placing a hand over his lips. A very eager smile on her face as she slowly let go of him.
"So... how about we get that spell working? We have a party to go today and getting that done before that sounds like a great deal to me." She suggested, looking very excited, and for Collin's eternal amazement, actually happy for once.
There was no way he could deny her wish. Now it was a matter of deciding if his fate would be a bad or a good one from this very moment.