DieKleineHexeCapraiaOfTheReich;
"I wouldn't know since I didn't have time to read any Helluva Boss fanfiction, I just have too much to do. Thanks for the review and I hope I can keep this story afloat, it's kinda hard since the season goes by really slow. :) "
Guest;
"I wouldn't do songs cause that can cause issues, had that problem before. Sorry :( "
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"Alright, how about this? We just take one, ONE, then you can have whatever you want."
"I don't know. This stuff seems very...err, intense."
"Don't judge by colors Collin. Didn't think angels could have prejudices."
"Hey! It's a drink! I can judge what it looks as much as I feel like it!"
"I'm joking, chill out, so young and gonna pop a vein like that."
"You're one to talk!"
Loona snickered as she watched Collin eyeing the drink on his hand like it's a bomb about to go off. She's been trying to convince the sheep to give it a try on alcohol for the last ten minutes, but not success yet. During that time, they were visited by few Hellhounds that came by the bar for their own drinks. Loona was delighted to meet more of her own, even Collin was genuinely surprised at how receptive the Hellhounds acted so far. Perhaps his fears of them were unfounded after all.
But that night was far from over.
"Look, it's not that I don't want to. I just worry this might do something to me that will cause an undesirable need for more." He justified, looking back at the female with worry.
"You're worried about becoming an addict?" She half-asked, pondering his concern with a bit more of seriousness. It was a reasonable thing to be worried indeed, Loona could tell from personal experience. She struggled for a long time to go easy on the amount she used to drink few years back. Hitting eighteen was not simple as she expected, not that age restrictions were an issue for her to drink, but hitting that barrier gave her a ton more of liberty. "Alright, I get that. Still, you don't get addiction from the first sip, actually far from it."
"How so?" He stared in confusion. Loona shrugged.
"It normally tastes awful the first time around, you... just keep doing it until it doesn't?" She explained as best she could. Collin made a face at that.
"Sounds like you're just torturing yourself to do so. Wait." He said, a look of realization on his face all of sudden. "Loona, you didn't do it just to look cool or anything of the sort, did you?"
"Errr, maybe?" She replied sheepishly, knowing full well the reason she started drinking was to impress or get along with some possible friends. Collin gave her a rather emphatic stare.
"I understand that. I've seen way too many humans that went through that kind of situation. Being pressured into doing something for the sake of making part of." He said while eyeing the drink pensively. "The question is... are you trying to get me to drink this for first time's sake, or just doing it for me to get along with whatever friends you make today?"
Loona, clearly stunned, didn't say anything, her attention shifting away as she started moving uncomfortably. Collin, again, was far too attentive with details that not even the Hellhound herself would've noticed. He was right, especially after she thought back at the reasons she wanted for him to drink in the first place, more out of selfish desire than an actual encouragement for his sake.
"Look, I just don't want to give them reasons to pick on you. I mean that." She started, feeling slightly guilty for not really being honest about her intentions. Collin's frown softened considerably, knowing full well how much truth her words carried. "I guess I should've said it right from the start."
"It's alright. I understand." He quickly said, not wanting to put her down even further. "I'm... thankful you worry that much and, yes, that concern is not unfounded."
"Huh?" Collin rolled his eyes, a smile playing on his face as he regarded the female with appreciation.
"I meant that you have a good reason to worry." He explained, bring the glass near his face and taking a sniff of it. The grim look on his face very noticeable. "But... I can try this. I guess it can't be so bad."
Mustering enough courage, Collin took a sip of the strange liquid, immediately feeling his throat burst into flames as it traveled down all the way to his stomach. He nearly choked as he started coughing violently. Loona slapped his back hard in an attempt to help him out, although causing even more harm than good. He winced as he felt his back also stinging from the contact. Loona, realizing she made things worse, let out nervous chuckle.
"Heh, errr, sorry about that." She quickly said, watching the sheep struggle with the agonizing experience. "Soooo, how was it?"
Collin made a face before replying. Not really finding the situation to be very chatty in the slightest.
"It was..." He paused, trying to find appropriate words without being too obnoxious about it. "...garbage." Loona let out an amused laugh.
"Even now you just can't bring yourself to actually swear. What's with you being so educated all the time?" She pondered, taking her own drink and emptying the glass in a single motion. She had no qualms with drinking the vile liquid, which is very telling on her experience on the matter.
"What do you expect to gain with swearing, anyway?" He replied, looking exhausted. The drink took more of his will thank Collin wanted to admit. "It's just words made for demeaning a person or situation. You can do such more eloquently, there's no need for them."
"It's feels good to say it from time to time. No, I don't do it to look cool." Loona quickly added once she noticed Collin's sideways glance at her. "This is Hell, if you're afraid of words, then it will make you an easy target. Fear around here can be a powerful tool, don't let anyone use it against you."
Collin's eyes widened in surprise. Loona was actually saying something very logical, doing it for his sake also.
"You... ever been afraid before?" He asked hesitantly. She didn't reply right away, eyes fixated on the empty glass on her hand, a distant look on her face as she seemed to contemplate the question warily.
"Yeah... when I was little... I... was alone and... a kid is an easy target for all sorts of things... especially sex maniacs."
Collin felt like a grenade went off inside his stomach. He could not fathom to think what horrible experience Loona could've endured, especially one like that. The sheer terror expressed on his face was enough of a reaction for the Hellhound to hesitate.
"Maybe we should not talk about this now. Let's... go around and see if we can get along with some folks around here, what do you think?" She asked rather timidly.
Collin nodded. His mind was going into horrible places and a distraction would do wonders right now. Also, he was starting to worry about Loona constantly deviating about talking on her past experiences, no matter how awful. She would have to talk about them eventually, and there was no better person to do that than a seasoned Cherub like him. He wanted to help, but if she kept shutting him off like that it would do no good in the long run. It made him sick to think she went through all of that, having no one to really rely on for so long.
Still, it really was not the place nor time to open those wounds, she wanted to have fun and forget about it for a night. It was up to him to make sure she could accomplish such, which meant it would be up to the sheep to keep his mouth shut and just worry about making sure she didn't end up drunk.
They both moved to a nearby table, some Hellhounds were gathered on it, a couple by the looks and another male who seemed somewhat bored out of his mind. Surprising, considering that all the others around were enjoying themselves. Loona introduced herself and Collin to the small group, they returned the introductions, explaining how they were constant guests on Van's parties. The couple seemed alright in Collin's opinion, although his mood shifted slightly once he took notice of the bored male looking at Loona with a sudden interest.
"Nice to meet you all, say, got room? It seems the other tables are kinda filled already." Loona asked, looking around briefly as to indicate the heavy occupation.
"Sure thing, we don't expect anyone else to come for the day." Came the reply from the other female, whose name's Ferala. Her boyfriend, Hazno, nodded in agreement.
"Yep, and a relief honestly. The others tend to be big mouthfuls on parties." The lone male, Rasher, chuckled on hearing that.
"As always, not that is really a bad thing, they just get over themselves way too quickly." He explained as his attention shifted back to Loona. "So, what brings you here? Unlikely for a Hellhound to come by themselves, usually." Loona raised an eyebrow.
"I didn't." She retorted while taking a seat next to Hazno. "I brought Collin with me, as you can clearly see." She added with a light frown. Rasher glanced at the sheep with a look of skepticism.
"Since when does Van let non-hounds inside?" He asked with a dubious look. Ferala groaned, looking somewhat aggravated.
"Since always, just cause you don't usually walk around much doesn't mean there isn't other type of creatures. Obviously she won't let Imps or Demons, but anything else is just fair game." At this she returned her attention to the sheep. "Say, Collin, right? What brings you here in this place? It has to be one hell of a reason for someone like you to come."
"Huh, I'm with Loona, actually." He replied, hoping to sound firm as possible, Loona's previous advice in mind. "We're on a date."
Rasher burst out in laughter, to which Loona immediately eyed him with a very nasty look. Both Ferala and Hazno's eyes widened in surprise, before their looks became more condescending towards their other table partner.
"Oh, hahaha, that's a good one!" Rasher exclaimed, looking thoroughly entertained. Neither Ferala or Hazno looked amused, but rather embarrassed by Rasher's reaction. "What's next? He's your emotional support pet?"
"Rasher!" Ferala exclaimed, looking affronted as she stared him down with disapproval. The male returned the stare with confusion.
"What? Aren't we playing jokes?" He asked dubiously. Yet, once looking back at Loona and Collin he noticed their reactions on the matter. Collin looked like he wanted to disappear while the female seemed on the verge of pouncing. "Oh... you are serious."
"Yes, we are." Loona said through sharp teeth.
"Sorry about Rasher here." Ferala started while throwing a narrowed glance at the male. Rasher frowned back at her. "He can come as a bit of a prick when speaking his mind too often, not that he properly thinks before saying anyway."
"Hey!"
"So, dating, huh?" Ferala asked, ignoring Rasher's indignant reaction. "Boy, that sure makes me curious. Have you two slept together already?"
"Fery!" Hazno exclaimed, looking perplexed. Ferala raised an eyebrow back at her mate while Rasher was snickering nearby.
"What? I'm just asking."
"Huh, do all female hounds ask that without caring at all?" Collin asked quietly to Loona. She merely rolled her eyes, refusing to answer to that question.
"So, when did you two met?" Rasher asked, recovering from his fit of laughter. Collin eyed Loona as if asking for permission to reply, she gave him a curt nod in response.
"Huh, a few days ago. We... had quite a meeting, and we've hit off rather well since then." The sheep replied with a nervous smile. Ferala raised an eyebrow.
"That was quite sudden, you two must get along very well." She said, sounding slightly impressed. "Don't know any Hellhound that would dare to try dating other races."
"Why so?" Loona asked, she expected it to be rare, but not that much. Ferala shrugged, looking slightly uncomfortable.
"Is just... how we are, you know? We don't really would if there's a male around that can be decent enough."
"Glad to hear it." Hazno quipped with a smirk. The reply was a quick eye roll from his mate, he chuckled. "Reasons aside, I think you should see how it goes. Who knows? Maybe this will give a lot of the singles around here more options. They sure can get desperate after some time."
"Desperate?" Inquired Collin, a tone of worry on his voice that Loona quickly caught onto. She gave him a warning glance before looking at Hazno with a bit of annoyance on her expression.
"Yeah, I know how that is, I've been there. I can handle some try-hards." She said, sounding slightly irritated, to which Collin wasn't sure why. It was getting tiresome for the sheep to understand Loona's fiery temper, he just wanted to have a conversation without feeling like someone would explode at any second, which meant the female Hellhound next to him for the majority of these particular occasions.
Collin immediately noticed that the male Hellhounds became more guarded on their expressions, but Ferala remained at ease. This reaction sparked some curiosity from the sheep, but the wasn't sure how to question such behavior with the females present.
"So, what part of the ring do you live? Or you just moved in from another level?" Ferala asked while distracting herself with a very bloody steak that was on her plate. Most of the food currently present or their table was something that Collin could only describe as 'extremely fresh'. The sheep wasn't sure what rings meant though. Still the word 'levels' gave him something to work on.
"Hum, I've been here recently, came from above actually." He replied with a bit more of subtlety, to which Loona was somewhat relieved.
"Ah, that explains why you look the softer type." She replied with a cheeky grin. "Higher level rings have the less problematic folk, some even not really what I would call Hell stereotype. They ended up here for really minor things. Say, what did you do? You surely ain't Hellborn."
Collin started fidgeting with his hands, looking unease as he cast quick glances at Loona, a silent plea for help.
"Collin killed someone." Loona said, to which Collin couldn't help but feel somewhat conflicted.
"It wasn't my fault!" He quickly said. Loona gave him a brief glance but said nothing else, while the other Hellhounds seemed a bit more sympathetic for some reason. The exception being Rasher, who seemed too bored to care.
"Ah, that's one that really sucks." Hazno said, looking at the sheep with a rather solemn look. "I've been known to some fellas, that ended up here for the silliest of reasons. System sucks, I can tell ya, but it's not up to us to question it. The higher rings keep those who committed foul deeds without intent in their own place. They are in Hell, but really don't deserve it. Yet, it's not like Heaven cares. If you ain't perfect they won't take you."
Collin wasn't sure what to say. Hazno wasn't wrong, the sheep witnessed some really absurd things regarding how humans were selected for the Heavenly realm. The incident with Lipton was a painful reminder of the absolute injustice he suffered.
"Wait, you're saying there's less nasty folks at the higher rings?" Loona couldn't help the touch of skepticism on her voice. Hazno nodded.
"Yeah, even some Hellhounds moved there actually, been happening more often. Not only the higher rings are somewhat less crowded, but it feels a lot better to live on there. I can attest to it, me and Ferala moved recently, we only come down to the lower rings to meet some old friends and whatnot. Not all of them really feel like moving up, they like the thrill of being here." He shrugged, clearly unfazed by such decisions. "To each their own, but it sure feels refreshing to not worry about getting stabbed each five minutes. I would say the top ring is the closest we can get to being on the Human realm."
"And that's good?" Loona raised an eyebrow. "Why would the Human realm be better?"
"Oh, damn. Did the Imps filled your head with all that 'Humans are nasty gremlins' too?" Ferala asked with a smirk on her face. "There's bad Humans, good ones, and something in between, which actually makes them decent in some way. The top ring has many that really don't want to engage on whatever Demons like, which is why that area is never really looked upon by any important Demon Lord, they simply don't care."
"I... well, I've seen a lot of bad from the Humans that end up here." Loona said, sounding uncertain. She gave Collin a quick glance, reminding of the time the sheep told her about Humans overall. Perhaps the sheep wasn't just being biased after all. "Can't tell I've seen any that even was worth my time."
"Why would they? They look like a bunch of tasty pigs." Rasher said, earning himself a glare from Ferala. "What? I don't need to deal with them, why should I care anyway?"
Ferala sighed, muttering words towards Hazno that became undecipherable due the noise around them. He merely nodded once before raising from the seat alongside his mate.
"Say, we gonna get a couple drinks, anything you guys want?" He asked towards the two. Loona merely shrugged, but Collin seemed more enthusiastic for whatever reason.
"Huh, yeah. I would like to try a drink I suppose, whatever you have in mind will do." Loona couldn't help a snort of disbelief.
"Are you serious? Don't think you can handle anything here, it's all heavy stuff." The sheep frowned. While he may not really relish on the idea of drinking, it was undeniable that giving things a try wouldn't really all be bad, if done moderately. His body needed to adapt to the idea of sustaining and, while he knew that drinking alcohol was far from recommended due his experiences with drunken Humans, he was pretty sure that asking for a glass of water would make him look rather pitiful to the other Hellhounds. He was trying his best to not embarrass Loona, she needed friends after all.
"Sure, we can pick something that will give you a interesting taste." Hazno replied before walking away with Ferala. Rasher, noticing they were left alone, immediately struck conversation with the other female.
"So, what brings a hottie like you here?" He asked, a playful smirk on his face that only served to annoy Loona beyond all reason.
"Besides my boyfriend?" She replied pointedly, her anger increasing as Rasher reacted with an eye-roll. Collin couldn't help but feel strange about being talked as her mate. His life have taken such a turn that he often wondered if he wasn't just stuck on a long dream. Or nightmare in this case.
"Yeah, that's a fun joke there. Look, I get you just want to avoid someone on your back. Why would any hound date something like him?" He tried to reason. Loona was actually stunned by the male's audacity, while Collin was getting annoyed at being talked about as if he wasn't even there. Rasher was clearly trying to pick on his nerves. "Surely you can do better."
"Surely that 'better' does not define you." She retorted, but Rasher only chuckled.
"Nah, you look fine but not my type. I like girls that are more beefy, you look too fragile on a closer look."
Collin felt immediate dread at the clear insult. This male hound has no idea who he's dealing with and it's only a matter of time until someone ends up dropping dead on the ground, which would ruin the night eventually.
"Loona." Collin touched her arm softly, but was still able to feel her body shaking from sheer silent fury. "Come on, we should get something for you too. Let's head to the bar." He understood her being infuriated, this Rasher guy was clearly a dickhead and annoying the sheep tremendously aswell, but beating him up would accomplish nothing.
Loona looked back at Collin in disbelief, seemingly affronted that he was willing to let the insult slide so easily. Collin nodded more firmly, a narrow look on his face as to make clear how serious he's about them leaving. She relented after few tense seconds, raising from her seat without saying a word. Collin quickly followed after, not bothering to dignify Rasher with a look of any kind.
As soon they were out of sight Loona wasted no time on letting her thoughts out on the matter.
"Mother fucker." She said with an incredible amount of venom. Collin winced at the swear. "Can't believe the fucking nerve, especially with you there. I should've ripped his throat out." She looked down at him with clear frustration. "Why you let it be? He talked shit about us and you won't even say anything?!"
"Because." Collin started, looking around as they struggled to get past the crowd of hounds walking around. "There's nothing that needs to be said. He made clear the type of per- hound he is. If we argued it would only get worse and escalate into a fight. I don't doubt for a second you would win it, but doing it so would most likely get us banned, there's no telling if Rasher would get punished too or just the two of us."
Loona stared, looking befuddled for a moment before sighing in defeat.
"You gotta a point, I guess I was getting on the edge too quick." She relented after a thoughtful pause. "You know, having you around... I feel like I can do better, especially if there's someone that can see reason." Loona let out a tiny smile show up. "That fucker would have it coming, but I really shouldn't bother. It's not like I would ever trade you anyway."
"Huh, oh.. I...hum, thanks?" Collin felt a blush permeate across his face, feeling genuinely touched by her words. "I-I mean, you never know with these things. Maybe it doesn't work out and-"
"Like I said." She interrupted him, looking more serious this time around. "I won't." Her face softened slightly as she continued. "You're a really decent guy Collin. I don't care where you came from, I... I'm glad you're here, even if you deserve better. Say, why don't we go out and visit the higher rings one of these days? If what Hazno and Ferala said is true then we might find better folk to talk up there."
The sheep nodded silently, his mind struggling to process the amount of things that happened recently. The fact that he, a Cherub, managed to get so deeply involved with a Hellhound was something out of a crazy drunk tale.
'Meeting Loona was the most interesting that ever happened in my short life, and I'm still not even sure if it is good or not. So far I have no reason to doubt her intentions towards me, but Hell is wild and unforgiving, I'm wasn't sure what to expect from anyone. Loona has been the only living being that I can rely on so far, hopefully that wouldn't have to change. I don't have any belief that I will find someone else.'
And he had no reason to look for anyone else. Loona was getting into him in a way he never thought someone had ever before, not since...
"Hey! What you two doing here? I thought you would be waiting for us at the table?" The voice of Ferala reached the sheep's ears, bringing him back to reality in an instant. Loona merely grunted before taking a spot near the couple.
"I would, if your stupid idiotic friend didn't try to hit on me." Was Loona's annoyed reply. Ferala's good mood died almost instantly, her eyes looking devilish as she started to make her way towards Rasher.
"I'm going to kill that fuck-"
"No." Hazno said, pulling her back by one of her arms. "Not in here. You get into a fight and Van won't ever let you in again."
Collin and Loona exchanged a quick glance. She expected the sheep to look somewhat smug for being right, but he only expressed relief as they actually avoided a really bad outcome. Loona couldn't help but appreciate him even more for being at her side. Making sure that Hazno and Ferala were distracted, she bent down quickly and planted a quick kiss on one of the Sheep's cheeks. Collin looked up to her, extremely surprised by the gesture.
"That's my thanks, for getting us out of trouble." She muttered at him with a smile. Collin wouldn't be surprised if his face was melting at that point, a feeling that only intensified as Loona giggled at his reaction.
"Now, how about we actually try some drinks? I think there's a couple here that you will like."