Matt and his family arrived at their little patch of land, 30 minutes outside of No-Name Town.
EASTVEAL.
Eastveal was like any other small suburban farm town. A few shops; one included a corner store, a pub, and a small playground with only swings, a slide, a see-saw, and monkey bars.
But it still had a lot of houses and a population with around 150 people. And the Sanders family was one of them.
He had his mom and dad of course, but at eight-years-old, Matt was the youngest of to a 9-year-old sister and a 10-year-old brother.
Together, the small house they lived in was about two minutes a walk away from the town, next door to 3 other houses along with 5 more houses on the other side of the road.
...
As their car drove through the exit towards that street, Balin and Loona walked through the portal they opened from Nan-Nan and Pops' neighbourhood.
Loona decided to stay in her human form in case there were more humans than previously anticipated. But she was soon surprised at how small the town actually was.
"Huh. Was not expecting this." she said to herself.
"Yes, it's small." replied Balin with a smile, having heard that. "But it's cool."
"...I guess, it is. Isn't it?"
"Well, Matt lives right around this corner. Just past the little shop." the boy pointed out.
He was about to walk, until Loona softly stopped him.
"Easy there, Meal." she chuckled. "I know you're excited and all, but, why don't we just wait a little bit?"
"Why?" the boy cocked his head in confusion.
"Well we didn't follow him." explained Loona, giving his head some soft ruffles. "If we're on our way to his place right now, there'd be a taxi following them. So we can't just go up to them now. They'll think, how did these two magically appear?"
"Good point." the boy replied with a soft giggle from Loona's head rubs.
"So, why not... give me a tour of the place?" she suggested.
...Unfortunately, she said that before glancing back to see how small the town still was.
"Ooh, scratch that." she chuckled awkwardly. "Not much to smell 'round here."
"It's okay. I know how you feel." replied Balin. "I felt the same way the first time Matt showed me around."
And in saying that, Balin then remembered a memory about their early days of mate-ship.
"Loona? Can I tell you a story, please?" he asked her.
"Of course, sweetie." she replied.
Holding her hand, Balin took her to a bench next to the playground and sat down next to her.
"Sorry if we're sitting next to..." he mumbled to her, pointing at the church right next to where they were sitting.
"Meh, I don't mind." she smiled. "It doesn't hurt."
"So, when I was five, me and my other four school friends went to Matt's house. It was the first time we hung out together there, and during the visit, he gave us a tour of the street. Or so I thought. Minutes later, I realised we were actually playing Pokemon Go."
"Pokemon... Go?"
"Yes."
Loona then pinched her nose, thinking this was some kind of friend neglect. "People and their social media." she sighed.
"But I understand." Balin continued, as Loona looked at him with surprise. "I did love the town. I guess... life is beautiful. when you or they are having fun." he then looked up at Loona cheekily. "Also, that means a lot coming from you, Mrs. Phoney Belogne."
"Mrs. Phoney Belogne, eh...? Come here, you." she gave him a smug smile.
Loona then grabbed Balin by his waist and started kissing him all over his face while no-one was looking. Not even his BFF. The boy kept trying to cover his face, but she would always swipe his hands away.
Soon, the boy came up with an idea to make her stop.
"Hey, Loona. Do you want to play for a little bit until we're ready?" he asked her.
"Sure. You got me in the mood anyway." she shrugged softly in response, before carrying him to the playground as he hugged her. "Aww, you're so sweet."
...
Over the next 10 minutes, Loona played on the equipment with Balin.
SEE-SAW:
As the two sat on each end of the see-saw, Loona would go 'WHEE!' as she flew up before he did, making him laugh.
SWINGS:
She then started gently pushing him on the swings, and as he'd fly back and forth, Balin would look at the afternoon sky with a wide smile.
SLIDE:
But he has a little afraid of how high the slide was, and Loona was at the bottom ready to catch him.
"It'll be okay, Balin!" she called out to him.
"Will you catch me, Loona?!" he called back.
"Yes!" she then reverted to her hellhound form. "I promise. I will be here!"
Taking a deep breath, Balin then slid down the slide at such a fast pace, and when he was finally at the bottom, Loona gently caught him as to not impale him with her claws.
"Good boy!" she cooed. "That wasn't so bad, right?"
Balin then shook his head in agreement as he hugged her tight, before this happened two more times.
The second time he did it, Loona caught him in her human form. The final time was when he bravely did it all by himself, making Loona take a picture with her phone.
FETCH:
With only a couple more minutes, Loona reverted back to her hound form as she cheekily got on all fours, deciding to play a little fetch with Balin.
He had the ball in his hand as she followed its every movement, until Balin threw it along the trail to Matt's house.
"Alright Balin, hop on and hold still." Loona then crouched down and let him clamber onto her back.
She then reverted back to her human form with Balin's arms wrapped around her neck as she grabbed the ball, and with him pointing out the direction, they set off for the Sanders' until she put him down at the front door.
"If you'll do the honours?" gestured Loona, as she got on her phone and started texting.
Balin then rang the doorbell, and a few seconds later, his friend opened the door, happy to see his friend twice in one day.
"Are you happy?" he tried reciting their BFF handshake.
But Balin came prepared, pulling out the slice of cake from yesterday.
"Cake." he joked.
"How did you...?" Matt stuttered, mind-blown at his cheekiness.
The two then laughed and hugged each other warmly, even with Balin's backpack in the way. Loona however just giggled at the boys' behavioir as she continued texting.
"Oh. Hehehehe. Hello, Ms. Loona." Matt courteously bowed to her in respect.
"At ease, buster." she smirked. "I'm not royalty."
Just then, Mr. and Mrs. Sanders arrived.
"Balin!" Mrs. Sanders exclaimed. "It's really you!"
"Welcome back, mate." smiled Mr. Sanders, as he patted his back like a man.
"You okay, Balin?" Loona then rubbed Balin's hardly patted back better.
"Yeah."
"Oh." Mrs. Sanders then noticed the gothic caretaker. "And who may you be, madam?"
"Name's Loona." she said with a flat grin, still on her phone.
"Understood." Mr. Sanders said, before returning to the two boys. "Alright boys, study's all ready for you two to use."
"Thanks dad." replied Matt, as he and Balin ran for the study room.
"Oh, Balin..." Loona then sang before the human boy could bolt off. "You have something to hand over?"
With a sigh of defeat, Balin went "Darn it." and handed Loona the Glad-wrapped slice of cake.
"C'mon, kiddo. You could still get a sugar rush here." she chuckled. "Now go on. I'll be with the old man and lady if you need me."
"Okay Loona!" replied Balin as he ran off to the corridor.
He slowed down once he entered the study with Matt sitting at the desk near the window.
"So what homework have you got to study?" his best friend asked.
"Well, do you want to work on our Italian project?" Balin asked back.
MATT: "Sure. And what book have you got for your English report?"
Balin then showed his friend his chosen 'Breakfast for Champions' book.
MATT: "What's this one about?"
BALIN: "It's about a Sci-fi writer and a car salesman who become best friends."
MATT: *scoffs* "Boring...!"
BALIN: "YOU'RE boring!"
MATT: *smugly* "Correction. I'm a life of the party."
The two then laughed at their playful quarrelling as they started getting into their work.
...
Meanwhile...
In front of the TV, Loona was sitting in Mr. Sanders' barcalounger flatly texting on her phone, while Matt's parents sat on the couch next to her watching 'Hollywood Squares' on their TV.
TV HOST: "When a man falls out of your boat and into the water, you should yell 'Man overboard!' Now what should you yell when a woman falls overboard?"
PAUL LYNDE: "Full speed ahead!"
TV AUDIENCE: *LAUGHS*
"Ugh. Fucking humans." Loona muttered, as she rolled her eyes with a disgusted look on her face, before looking at the two parents and unexpectedly thinking again. "I mean, OTHER fucking humans...?"
It was then the Sanders' decided to do the most impossible: Talking to Loona.
"So... Ms. Loona? Was it?" Mr. Sanders asked with a nervous tone.
Loona just stared at him refusing to answer. She wasn't gonna tell him twice.
"I'll take that as a yes." Mrs. Sanders said quietly, before clearing her throat. "Anyway, sweetie! Could you by chance put down that phone...?"
"Uh, dear, fuck no." Mr. Sanders interrupted before Loona could say that and whispered to her. "You never ask someone in her generation to put down their mobile device. That's how they pounce."
"Since when have you been getting back into David Attenborough?"
"I didn't. I now listen to Morgan Freeman."
Sighing at their whisper argument, Loona decided to tell them a little more about herself.
"Well, if you must know." she began speaking. "I moved from Boston to this country recently with my da... Blitzø, started working with him and his dip... biscuit crew, and next thing I know, I met Balin one in when he was alone in a hotel room."
"Is that how you became his mother?" asked Mrs. Sander.
"ADOPTED!" Loona replied with a hard groan. It sounded like she was talking to Blitzø. "Wait. Why did I just... I'm not exactly that, or even his step-mother, just... a friend, who really cares about him."
"Oh. Understandable." Mr. Sanders said. "There's not a single parent, or parent 'figure', who thinks that at an early age."
"True." Mrs. Sanders said. "But then, the good way they raise their kid, it shows through them."
"And how would you two know that?" asked Loona with little interest.
"Because that's how these boys met." the two parents said together, as Mrs. Sanders began telling their origin story.
BACKSTORY:
An airplane with Balin and his parents on board landed on an island just a couple of hours into the Great Barrier Reef.
MRS. SANDERS (V.O): "It all started during a vacation to the islands where we used to work at together."
As the three got off the plane, they were greeted by Mr. and Mrs. Sanders at different posts in the airport.
MRS. SANDERS (V.O): "The first moment we saw Raven and Elton with their bundle of joy, we thought they were like every other holiday-maker. We were the ones who sorted out their luggage and gave them a car the first moment they arrived."
In reality, Loona just showed a smug grin with a somewhat erotic thought in her head, hearing that.
MR: SANDERS (V.O): "Over the days of their vacation, we kept running into them in various places around the island. The cafe where they had breakfast, the pool where we worked at the swim-up bar, and a play club where their son met our little Matthew. He was trying to create a sculpture out of play-dough, like one of the many statues outside."
MRS. SANDERS (V.O): "And that's when he shared some more dough from his pile, and even helped him with the design, like no other 4-year-old could."
Matt then looked at the Tiki faces on the sculptures outside the art room, and drew the dots and smiley faces with his small but coordinated fingers. Looking back and forth at them, he soon smiled and hugged Balin as a thank you for helping him.
MRS. SANDERS (V.O): "A couple days before they set off for home, they wanted to see us at our home to say thank you for our quote-unquote amazing time and hospitality."
MR. SANDERS (V.O): "But they soon realised we did all that hospitality as we fell upon hard times. Rent, taxes, you don't live on a vacation island without paying off both."
MRS. SANDERS (V.O): "They asked if we needed any help, so we let them, being the tax genius Raven was. And during then, Matt and our other two kids wanted to play. So Balin decided to cheer them up from being alone with a game of patty-cake."
MR. SANDERS (V.O): "We didn't know how many games they played to this day, but the first one we couldn't hear. Then the last one, we all smiled and it brought tears to this man's eyes, for what was merely the first time."
MRS. SANDERS (V.O): "And when it was all over, we told them we didn't know when it would happen again. So while the parents understood, Balin however came up with a plan that'd change our family, for good."
"Mommy? Daddy?" Balin asked them with a smile. "What if we invite them home?"
"Invite them home? With us?" repeated Elton, making Balin nod.
"You'd do that for us?" Mrs. Sanders asked their little toddler, kneeling down to his level.
"Yes." Balin replied in his youngish tone, as he then winked at his new BFF, Matt.
Both families parents were pretty stunned by the idea, while Matt's soon got emotionally moved.
"You two are raising such a generous child." Mr. Sanders smiled.
"That's our little man." Raven replied, looking at Balin as she rubbed his head and kissed his forehead, making him blush.
BACKSTORY ENDS.
"So they provided us this house, left everything else to us once we could get a well-earned job." finished Mrs. Sanders. "And since then, we've never looked back."
Loona actually looked up from her phone hearing the whole story, stunned at how they came to No-Name Town because of Balin.
"He really is quite something special to do that for us." Mr. Sanders said. "And now to survive all of this? Thank you for saving him."
"L-Like he might've said to you. Anything." Loona replied, looking away with a small smile.
It was then one of the sheep came into the house, walked up to Loona, then nuzzled underneath her legs like a footstool.
"Huh. Looks like one animal in this house seems to respect you." Mr. Sanders said. "No offence."
"None taken..." Loona replied sheepishly. "I assume this well-earned job is... farming?"
"AND butchering." Mr. Sanders added, making the sheep's eyes go wide.
"Noted." shrugged Loona, as she went back to her phone.
Feeling satisfied with all that weight off their chest, Matt's parents soon stared back at the TV.
...
Later on, the two grown-ups fell asleep, while Loona still used the sheep as a foot rest, not moving the whole time.
But as they slept, the hellhound in disguise decided to check up on the kid and his BFF of a kid real quick. So she gently lifted her legs from the sheep's fleece and quickly petted it.
"Good..." she then looked underneath it. "Boy! Good boy." she softly spoke.
"Baaaa!" the sheep bleated in response.
Loona then stood up and walked away from the living room. ...But before then, she got into her hound form and...
"WOOF!"
She let out a loud, but not too loud, hellhound bark, making her sheep jump in near terror.
This made Loona chuckle as she walked off.
A/N: See y'all in the next chapter.