A/N: Sorry for the late update folks, being caught with life and been playing Baldur's Gate 3 aswell. It's way more time consuming than I expected lol. I was unsure if I would write the party in this chapter, but it turned out it would be way too large, so I cut this part from that event to avoid way too much at once. I'm halfway done with the next chapter, but won't be updating before another story of mine. Have a good week ya'll."
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"So, are you ready?"
"Kinda? I mean, last party was alright. I had fun. Not sure about this one, is a totally different thing."
"Well, I'm glad you had fun then. At least I won't risk puking my soul out this time."
"Heh, no shit. I don't need to carry your sorry drunk ass around again, thankfully."
"... I wasn't carried."
"Suuuure. Whatever you say."
"Hmf. So, does this look alright? I have no idea what type of clothing is considered proper for parties of such magnitute, at least in Hell."
"I think you look pretty good. Really, I know for sure that you should be covering your legs, chest and arms properly. At least to avoid being an attention whore."
"...I'm pretty sure that would never be my case."
Loona couldn't help the chuckle. She rubbed the top of his head just for fun, making a mess out of his fur. He seemed surprised by the gesture, giving her a rather joyful smile in return. Before he could reply his eyes landed on Loona's outfit.
"That seems like the dress I got you... did you add stripes to it?" He pondered with a bit of puzzlement. The red dress, that he gave Loona for the party they went days ago, now was adjourned with black stripes, which confused him.
The Hellhound rewarded him with a shrug. She did take her dress for some customization, even if it was a rather herculean task to get Nifty to help her out without making a mess of everything with her extremely excitable nature. It turns out Nifty has a rather vast range of skills, and knitting was actually one of those many that she possesses. A relief to be sure, Loona is painfully aware how expensive clothing could be around these parts. She did not feel like taking a portal to other rings for the sake of getting a lower price and doubtful crafting quality.
"So, how do you feel? I imagine this kind of party won't be like anything you saw." Collin asked distractedly, debating if he should dare to attempt the use of a bowtie or not as he stared at his own image on the mirror. He was often forgetting how he looked, unable to help the feeling of alienation every time he saw the image of a purple wolf, with a bushy tail, golden eyes, dressed with ragged black pants and a loose green jacket, staring back at him.
"I dunno. This is... I mean, never really been down to Gluttony, not since..."
The sudden pause made Collin turn his attention back to her, aware of where her thoughts were drifting towards.
"You will be okay?" He asked as he came by her side, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder, unable to dare himself to do anything more intimate. Just because they were dating Collin wasn't taking any freedoms to be more touchy, especially to someone who experienced horrible things at the hands of others. It was hard for the Fallen to know if she had developed any sort of trauma to people touching her out of nowhere. At least, the few times he saw Blitzo approach her more affectively, her body response was less than pleasant. So, unless Loona was the one to initiate the affections, he wasn't trying his luck.
"Hey, don't worry. Charlie will keep things under control, I expect." He said softly, hoping to ease her anxiety. "Not like we would let anyone get to you. I kinda promised your fost-
"Ex-foster." Loona quickly corrected, to which Collin blinked in confusion. "We... had a talk. It's better we go on just as friends. That whole adoption thing wasn't really working out."
"Oh! Huh, well then. What about the contract? Does it cancel the curse?" He inquired, sounding hopeful. Loona sighed, shrugging at the possibility.
"Don't really care at this point." She said heftily, looking back at her own image on the mirror. "He knows about it, he won't mess with that even if it has some effect. As far as I care, that's a minor problem now. I'm actually wondering how that kind of contract ended up in an adoption center anyway. Something is off about this stuff."
"I agree, Charlie is very worried about that error." He helped Loona tie a lace behind her back to close the dress properly. She was constantly bashing her tail between his legs and it was starting to drive him crazy. "So... err, I guess when we find Little B we will figure things out. Also, can you stop that?"
"Stop what?" Loona asked with a hidden smile, her voice sounding nothing but pure tease. "Come on, Collin. It's been nearly a week! I'm getting a bit worked out just thinking about it! Sure you don't mind we take some time to ourselves when we get back?" She whined, to which he couldn't help but chuckle at how adorable it sounded. He relented her request with a heavy sigh.
"Fine, but go easy. I'm not used to how this body feels yet. It was very annoying to find a proper way to use the toilet without the huge tail getting in the way." Loona laughed at this particular misfortune.
"Yours ain't even as big as mine! Quit complaining, you got it easy." She admonished him humorously. Collin shook his head albeit with a smile on his muzzle. "I'm glad you're helping me out with the showers though, that is such a pain to do by myself."
"I don't really mind." He answered automatically. Loona snorted, unsure if he was being genuine or oblivious. Perhaps both.
"Don't think you do. Any reason to get a feel of me naked will do, ain't that right?" She asked, turning to look at him with a sultry smirk. Collin blinked, mouth opening for a moment for no words to come out. "Relax, just teasing you a bit. What fun is it to not get you worked up a bit?"
"I mean, if you like doing it, I won't object. Just... as long we are alone. Also... you, are you okay with it?" He asked slowly, Loona tilted her head to the side, regarding him with confusion. "To touch you, like... at any time. I don't want to... scare you off."
"What?" She gave him an incredulous look before scoffing. "Why would I get scared of-
Her face morphed into realization at what has the wolf so concerned. Her expression dampening for a moment before returning him with a more stoic look.
"Hey, don't worry about that. What happened... I know you would never do anything like that. I trust you, more than anything or anyone. I know you care for me a ton, like... it's hard to use the word 'love'. It feels heavy to say it actually." She chuckled, looking slightly embarrassed. "But it is how I feel about you... I think it is. I feels good, and... I know it can be better. Don't worry about that stuff, I know I will be okay with you."
Collin nodded, understanding how nervous she is about bringing up her feelings so close to surface. He slowly brought his arms around her belly, head resting at the side of her shoulder. There was no way he could do it any better with her being considerably taller than him anyway. She smiled at the gesture nonetheless, immensely grateful for the comfort that such approach brought. They watched in silence their own reflections on the mirror staring back at them, each with mixed expressions, but both happy regardless.
"What a crazy week." Loona started with a humored huff. "Those Cherubs, you, that party, then Octavia, Stolas, Charlie, Vaggie, and so on. Oh, the crazy snake dude was fun too. Blitzo and stuff... all those talks we had about ourselves, Heaven, Hell and whatnot." She said evenly, seemingly lost over her own image. "I don't think I will ever be the same after all of this."
"Yeah." Collin nodded thoughtfully, reminding of all the events that led until this particular day. "It was a lot, more than it should be considered sane. I felt lots of things. Those were the wildest experiences I ever had in my entire life... and I'm glad I got to share them with you, if I have to be fair about it." He added with a sly smile that surprised Loona. She regarded him with a humored, sideways glance.
"Well, I hope you're ready for more soon. Cause we barely started." Loona warned him with a smirk, her hands found his and she held on them firmly. "Now, as much I would love to just screw around and have fun and whatnot, this party is kinda... dangerous."
"Dangerous." Collin repeated slowly, hoping she would elaborate. Loona nodded, looking a bit more somber this time around.
"I asked few things around about it to Vortex when I had time. He said that, well, Bee is kinda of a... 'drug dealer'."
Collin wasn't sure to laugh at the irony or remain passive. Yes, he didn't have the best of reactions to that previously, he would admit.
"Great, as if this wasn't going to be a process on its own." The wolf huffed, feeling annoyed that such topics would be still around for longer than needed. "How bad is it?" Loona seemed uncertain of how to measure the lengths of what even makes someone a huge dealer or not.
"Huh, maybe just don't take anything she gives you. Just like we were told, it might do ... hallucinations and other weird shit. I know it's a party, but I rather not lose my senses." She added with a pained grin.
Collin, being somewhat distracted, nodded in agreement. His eyes fell onto them holding hands and it took few seconds for him to realize how that hardly ever happens. Loona is very timid with such simple displays of affection, but it made him more at ease to know she has no objections about it. At least he wouldn't be so hesitant if he decided to approach her with such subtlety.
"Loona, can I ask you something?" He said quietly. The Hellhound's ears perked, immediately aware that he was getting personal about something. One week spent together was more than enough for her to figure him out a little bit.
"Sure, not that you should worry at this point. All the hard stuff was asked about anyway." She replied with mirth. Looking down at him with more appreciation than usual. "Besides, you can ask me anything. I will give it to you."
Collin, fully aware of all the heavy implications with such words, shook his head from the rather unnerving thoughts. He returned her not-so-subtle words with a sheepish smile.
"Err, well. I'm glad you trust me that much. Hum... we've been together for not too long. Also, I... not really very certain about the intricacies of being a soulmate. Is one thing to see others being one, but for me is rather extravagant to experience it. The physical aspect of it, I have many doubts. I just don't want to feel I'm pushing boundaries of any kind regarding yo-
"Woah, woah, woah. Easy with the dictionary. You can't help it, can you?" She stopped him with a brief laugh of exasperation. "What was all that about? Wait... you're worried about the whole touching thing? Seriously?! Collin, we already fucked." She added with an expression of disbelief. "What anything else after that would be, as you say, too much?"
Collin frowned at the vulgarity to which she described that particular moment. Yes, it did happen, but he wasn't really ready at the time, too worried about dying, or worse, to actually give the event any sort of emotional investment.
"I'm aware." He couldn't help the aggravation from seeping through his words. Loona crossed her arms, not fully getting why the wolf was even getting worked up, it didn't make sense to her. Unless...
"Wait, is this you wanting to talk some kind of fetish?"
"NO!" Collin immediately shouted, between horror and frustration. "It has nothing to do with that... specifically!" He added after a short pause, wondering if he even has any kind of those after all. He has no idea.
"Ahn."
"... are you... disappointed?!"
"... a bit."
Collin wasn't sure if this was her trying to be funny. Her face being just unreadable at the moment. He kept a face of skepticism while trying to collect his previous thoughts.
"What I wanted to ask. I'm worried about touching you. Yes! I know you don't mind, even so... I don't know how well you react to being touched. From the little I saw when it happened, you didn't have the best of responses." Collin said forcefully, tired of beating around the bush and getting caught by Loona's wild takes.
"Oh, that. Yeah, no worries. No fucking trauma there. I know if it's you then it's fine. Relax." She replied firmly, assuring him one more time that were no real concerns to be taken on that regard. "And I mean it. As much as you want."
"Okay. Thanks for clearing that out. Just making sure." He replied dryly, albeit with a timid smile. Loona chuckled, grabbing her phone with one hand to check the time.
"Welp, we gotta go. Charlie will be waiting us at-
Sudden knocks at the entrance door interrupted the Hellhound. She regarded the sounds with a dubious look.
-here?" She said slowly, puzzled as why Charlie would be taking the effort to come to their room. Collin seemed even more confused.
"Huh, why you think it's her?" Loona rewarded him with a very unimpressed glare.
"How about you use your nose for once? I can smell her scent." She chided him to which the wolf was stumped.
"Oh, I... didn't know I can actually do that. Is there a way to make me sniff better?" He asked, curious and worried about what things he would end up doing to acquire such skill. Loona regarded him with a strange glint on her eyes.
"You sure do know about many things, but this is just... you being dumb. Like, a lot. This is part of you, your body I mean. There is no better way to do it." She clarified with a heavy sigh. "You just do."
Collin frowned. He didn't feel his nose acting any different ever since he changed, well, perhaps he picked on smells more often from the day Octavia changed him, but nothing really stood out as someone's particular scent. Or maybe he was just not paying enough attention to memorize.
"Okay, I will get the door then." He said distractedly, making his way to receive Charlie. At first sight he was greeted with her usual looks once he slowly creaked the door open, to which the Morningstar regarded the awful sound with a wince.
"Oof, that could use some oil." She said with an embarrassed smile. Charlie is painfully aware that the hotel is still missing important staff members, and the maintenance crew clearly in need to be hired to get the place working at an acceptable condition. "Are you two done and set?"
"Huh? Yeah, but... why you're up here? I thought you said we would be traveling with the limo?" He asked while regarding Charlie's outfit. It was the same tuxedo she was wearing since he met her. "Also, are you not wearing anything else?"
"Well, I just think this kinda works for most, if not, every kind of occasion. It can look great at any party to be fair." She justified with a shrug. The wolf, with no counter argument, just decided to forget about it. Not like anyone would ever give Charlie Morningstar any piece of their mind about her clothing, unless they wanted to get into problems with, most likely, one of the most powerful Demons in Hell. "Annnnd, we are just using portal for this. I... kinda need to avoid unnecessary costs. Gas is expensive."
Collin regarded this information with genuine concern.
"How much money did you invest in this business? It never really came to mind until now, I was not aware you have a budget to be honest. With the way you were running I thought anything to be covered." Charlie's nervous smile dimmed to a frown of worry.
"Quite a lot." She dully said. "I really need this to have some return by... the next three years. Or, well, I'm gonna hear a lot about it from my mom and dad. I insisted in this project, I know I can do it! I just didn't realize it would require that many more people to get it going." She sighed heavily, crossing her arms with a vacant expression on her face. "I thought with Alastor we would've covered most of it, clearly you proved how premature that thought was. I hope things will finally start to run around once we get the rest of the staff. Yet, until we settle this issue with Bee, I don't think we would be able to focus on that. So, let's get going. At least I can spend a day without feeling like this whole place will come down on me at any second."
Collin regarded her with utmost sympathy, which made him even more conflicted by the second. He's working to and befriending Lucifer's daughter. This was beyond the realm of unthinkable for anyone from Heaven, even dubious enough for Humans to attempt. Yet, it felt as easy as talking with an old friend.
"So, we need to get around running things by the next month or so. Huh, who is your financial manager?" He asked dubiously. Charlie blinked for a moment.
"Do I need one?"
"... Loona, change of plans, we are leaving from here!" Collin called loudly, not wanting to respond to Charlie's question. This was supposed to be a rather eventful night, no need to get stressed out before even leaving.
"What?! Whatever happened with going by car?" She replied back, sounding rather disappointed. Collin sighed.
"Don't know." He replied quietly, beckoning Charlie to get inside in the mean time. "All set?" He asked towards the crestfallen Hellhound.
"Yeah, I guess." She replied morosely. Charlie regarded her with a sympathetic glance.
"I'm sure we can find time to have a ride another day, I will let you know." She said amiably, to which Loona reacted with genuine surprise and gratitude.
"Sounds like a plan. Right, so... we going?" She said awkwardly, the three of them gathered at the center of the room. Collin gave Charlie a glance.
"Huh, who's doing the portal?" He asked with a inquisitive frown, attention shifting in between the girls.
"Don't look at me. I have no idea what the rest of Gluttony looks like." The Hellhound said immediately. "Ferala's info is helpful but it's not like I even can go to a place just by name. You know what her house looks like?" Loona asked directly towards Charlie.
"I do actually, been looking some images in the web to see what it looks from outside and around. Very useful if you do not know a particular location." She replied with a grin. Loona rolled her eyes, feeling rather dumb for not thinking of something so simple. "Oh, just one thing."
"What is it?" Loona asked warily, noticing how Charlie became clearly concerned while staring towards Collin.
"I'm afraid that disguise of yours won't really hide your true nature from Little B. She will know about you as soon you show up, she can sense... 'energy' of people. She has a very peculiar skill. It's quite similar to my dad actually." Charlie said with a nervous chuckle. "So I suggest we stick close by, just in case she tries to, errrr, eat you or something like that."
"And you're telling us this now?!" Loona couldn't help but feel upset about the late warning. It would not do any good for Collin, who was already anxious about the whole thing. The Morningstar shrugged apologetically.
"It's... I never really have to worry about this kind of thing, or anyone for that matter. Fallen usually die out really quick. They don't get the chance of living around the city and going places. Unfortunately." She lamented. "Don't worry, I will make sure to keep Collin out of danger, as long you two are near."
"Fine, I will hold you to that." Loona replied, dismayed that there was not much that could be done on the matter. She gave Collin a concerned stare. "Will you be okay? I know Charlie said so, but still..."
"I trust her judgement on this matter, she knows it better than any of us." Was the wolf's quick reply, even if he's clearly apprehensive about the ordeal. "Let's just try to make sure we don't get found out by the wrong type of crowd. I'm not sure what kind of folk makes into such parties. Does Bee usually invites important people?" He asked towards Charlie.
"Huh, not that I know, those parties are something of a exclusive thing, like I said previously. Only way to find out is to show up and see for ourselves." She added with a bit of excitement. Loona gave the Demon girl a knowing glance.
"Seems you've been dying to have a chance to be in those kind of things." She said outloud, to which the Morningstar sighed heavily.
"Yeah, you could say that. This Hotel has been taking all the effort and time to function. I guess being understaffed wasn't really helping too. With those new additions I may have more free time for me and Vaggie. We sure could use a break from time to time. As long-
"You have someone of trust to run the Hotel while you're away." Collin finished for her, to which Charlie nodded with a solemn look on her face.
"That ain't easy, but we will get there eventually. Now..." She paused briefly, a simple hand gesture that quickly summoned a portal of her own, it was somewhat similar to Loona's portal shape, but surrounded with an orange-reddish glow instead. The Hellhound was intrigued.
"That hand movement was way easier, is there a different kind of invocation gesture?" She asked, clearly curious. Charlie returned her question with a pensive stare. It was coming back to her that they never really throughly asked about the Hellhound's ability to summon portals.
"Sort of, this is quite an old one actually, I imagine there were newer ones made after a century or so." She replied evenly. Collin gave her a dubious glance.
"Huh? Those portals were only created nearly a hundred years back? I thought that kind of casting was ancient." He questioned with a frown. Again, Charlie didn't seemed fazed by such questions.
"I've learned what I know from my parents, can't say much more than that. Soooo... let's go!" She shouted, jumped across the portal without looking back. Loona snorted, finding the Demon's excitement to be rather endearing, Collin felt the Hellhound pulling him along gently as they followed suit.
"Here we go, just keep our heads cool and we will be back by morning. Time to loosen up a bit."