As the early morning came, Carnavont woke from his slumber, eyes slowly coming open to see Loona now facing him still soundly sleeping with a smile on her face. She was embracing him with one leg draped over him. His eyes went wide as he turned as crimson as his outer fur, the last thing he recalled being them facing the opposite direction. Still, despite his now racing heart, he couldn't help but smile, finding her resting so peacefully rather endearing. Though the moment got more awkward as Loona slowly stirred, eyes opening and seeing him before going wide as she blushed heavily, realizing the position they were in.
"Good…morning." Carnavont said as he continued to blush.
"…morning…" Loona said meekly as she continued to blush as well. "Sorry…"
"It's...fine." Carnavont assured her. "Honestly...it was nice to…" He cleared his throat. "Wake up seeing you."
As flustered as she was, Loona couldn't help but smile a bit. "Y-yeah…" She said, she and Carnavont continuing to look at each other a moment before she remembered her leg and quickly removed it. "Sorry…again."
Carnavont chuckled lightly. "It's alright...though we should probably…"
"Oh, right..." Loona said as she let go of Carnavont. "I really don't want to go though…"
"I know, and as much as I dislike Blitz, he and IMP do need you." Carnavont advised.
"If you dislike Blitz so much why do you insist on being so fucking patient with him?" Loona asked as she looked at Carnavont. "I think it's been made clear how much of an ass hat he is. I mean, I get the whole not wanting me to lose what most don't get and wanting to not undermine IMP out of professional curtsy...but still…"
Carnavont looked at her a moment. "For you." He said simply. "Do not think my patience as something that I have in abundant supply. He is getting on my very last nerves and I will only tolerate so much. You are the ONLY reason I have not beat his fucking ass into an inch of his life." Carnavont explained. "The good he has done for you has granted him some extra patience because he's among the VERY few I've seen to treat hellhounds like family."
"That's...fair enough." Loona admitted before sighing. "I guess I should get ready...if only to prove that I'm far more than what he sees me as."
Carnavont smiled. "That's the spirit. You go first, I'll fix us some coffee and breakfast."
"Alright…" Loona said as she slowly and somewhat awkwardly, and ever so hesitantly, moved away from Carnavont and got out of bed, heading to freshen up.
Carnavont slightly smirked to himself as he got up and out of bed, waiting for his turn to freshen up before heading into the kitchen to fix them some breakfast. He felt quite well rested, not that he wasn't ever well rested, but he felt more so than he usually did. Carnavont smiled as he set about making them some coffee and something to eat, setting a plate of food and cup of coffee in front of Loona as she sat at the kitchen table before doing so for himself.
"Thanks…" Loona said with a smile as she started eating.
"No problem." Carnavont replied before starting to eat himself. "Maybe I should use your phone to call Blitz, I'm not sure he'll answer if I call on my phone. Plus, I REALLY don't want him knowing my number, who knows what the fuck he'll do." He muttered.
"You really don't have to, I can deal with him." Loona insisted. "Even if I still want to kick him in the dick again."
"I insist." Carnavont said as he looked at her. "Last thing I want to see is you getting furious again if you two start arguing."
"...Alright, I'll give you my phone after I'm done." Loona relented with a rather faint smile.
Blitzo sighed as he sat in his and Loona's apartment, he hadn't really slept too well since the other night, what had happened playing repeatedly in his head. He and Loona had just somewhat reconciled their fight from that morning, or at least stopped being too angry, when he just HAD to push her away again with another argument...something he seemed to be great at doing with people. It wasn't really his fault, he was trying to be a good dad, couldn't she see that? So what if he was a bit over protective, it was for her own good, especially since his father couldn't give two shits about him. He was worried, something that was somewhat lessened when his phone rang and he saw it was Loona.
Blitz lit up a bit as he answered the phone. "Oh Loonie my sweet little girl, I was so-"
"Hello...Blitz." Came Carnavont's voice from the phone, clearly trying to be as nice as he could be.
Blitzo's relief soon turned to sheer rage as he heard the male hellhound, "What the FUCK are you doing with my little Loonie's phone?!" he roared. "I should have known she went to you, you're probably the one filling her head with ideas of running away!"
"Blitz-" Carnavont tried to interject.
"No, you listen here." Blitz continued. "I don't know what your game plan is here, but I don't care. You're a piece of shit asshole and I bet this is some scheme to undermine IMP, to get at me, or take advantage of and do something to my Loonie!"
"BLITZ-" Carnavont tried again, his patience nearing it's limit.
"No, you're going to listen. If this is some plan of yours to undermine MY business by using MY daughter, I SWEAR to Satan I will FUCKING end you." Blitz continued with his tirade. And if I see that Loona has HPV or you plan to do something to her, ooooh you'll be in-"
"SHUT THE FUCK UP YOU IDIOTIC LIMP DICK PIECE OF SHIT ASSHOLE!" Came Carnavont's voice in a growling roar that even through the phone made Blitzo's body tremble just from the sheer strength of it alone, causing him to blink as he stopped talking. "Now, you are going to listen. I have NOTHING planned, I did NOTHING to take advantage of Loona, and unlike you, I talked to and LISTENED to her." Carnavont berated.
"I've been TRYING to be nice, to be patient, to just let your clearly messed up in the fucking head asshole attitude slide, but you're getting on my LAST fucking nerves. Maybe if you were caring and sensitive enough to hear her out and try to see where she's coming from like how you give her the only bed room you have, then maybe she'd surprise you. But no, whatever the FUCK you got going on clearly overrides your common fucking sense."
"i-" Blitz started to say.
"And while I'm still grateful for what you do and have done for her, you're clearly too fucked up in the head to do the right thing. So get off your self obsessed horse and go fuck yourself." Carnavont berated. "And before you say anything else, I was calling to let you know she's alright and I convinced her to show back up to work and, while I'm starting to wonder why, back to your apartment. Oh, and if I hear you spied on us again...I WILL fucking snap your horns off and shove them down your throat, clear?" He threatened
Blitz was silent for a moment. "...Can I speak to Loona?" He asked after a sigh.
"Yeah, and again, fuck you." Carnavont retorted.
"Fuck you too asshole." Blitzo muttered.
Carnavont handed Loona her phone, the hellhound having blinked at in slight surprise at when Carnavont finally snapped at Blitz, not that she blamed him any. "Yeah?" she asked as she brought her phone to her ear.
"Look, Loonie...maybe I was just a little harsh." Blitz admitted somewhat begrudgingly.
"Ya think?" Loona asked sarcastically. "Carnavont has been nothing but nice while you've been...you." She added, her tone none to happy.
"...Look, I just don't like the guy alright?" Blitz stated defensively.
"Well I do." Loona shot back just as defensively before blushing a bit.
Blitzo sighed, "Look, we'll talk about this later. I'm just glad you're alright. Moxxie's called and said something about his uncle so me and Mills are goin with him. Apparently his uncle's some big shot in the greed ring, which I have to see because I can't believe his fat ass comes from anything but something lame since he said he's from wrath. So uh...I guess...you can have the day off."
Loona blinked, surprised Blitz was giving her the day off. "...Really?"
"Yeah...sure, whatever." Blitz muttered reluctantly. "Just make sure to answer your phone in case we need you and be back home and to work tomorrow."
"...Thanks." Loona said with slight surprise.
"Yeah yeah, just put HIM back on the phone." Blitz muttered.
Loona knew better, sensing what Blitz might do, but handed her phone back to Carnavont. "Yeah?" Carnavont asked.
"Listen here dick head, I don't care how much Loonie might like you, I'm watching you." Blitz threatened. "If you do ANYTHING I'm coming after your ass and mounting your head on the hood of my van, got that? And don't you dare tell me how to raise my daughter jack ass, I know what's best for my Loonie so fuck you." He seethed.
"Fuck you too." Carnavont muttered before hanging up the phone and giving it back to Loona. "I'm seriously going to kill that asshole…"
"That...was the first time I've seen you loose your cool. What did he say?" Loona asked as she put her phone up. "Not that I'm blaming you."
"Nothing that he hasn't already been saying, only far more annoyingly and, well...you can imagine his tone." Carnavont muttered.
"Yeah...he can be irrational…" Loona admitted knowingly. "ANYWAY, he gave me the day off, they're going to be busy visiting fatso's family sooo…." She looked at Carnavont, tail wagging slightly. "Looks like I can meet the rest of your employees."
"Yeah, guess so." Carnavont smiled. "Sure you want to though, I bet it's not often you get a day off to just do whatever."
"If they're as nice as Typhus is, then yeah." Loona replied. "Besides, I'm going to end up meeting them eventually right? Might as well do it now, if you still don't mind that is...since you'll be working."
Carnavont chuckled slightly. "Yeah, I still don't mind. We better get going then, I do like to keep some punctuality." he smirked.
"Right…" Loona smiled.
The two made their way to Carnavont's van, getting in and heading to his work place. As they drove, Loona couldn't help but blush a little bit. What with her spending the night and now joining him at his job, it almost felt like...she shook her head as she got more flustered. How could she think that?! They only recently met, only gone on one date. Sure he was hot and all, nice even; but this was too soon, waaaay too soon.
"Something the matter?" Carnavont asked, having noticed her getting really flustered then shaking her head.
"Nothing!" Loona blurted, as she flustered more.
Carnavont arched a brow at her. "Tell me…"
"Really...it's nothing...it's silly." Loona insisted.
"If it's silly then what's the harm and saying it?" Carnavont countered.
"I...well…." Loona hesitated only to buckle as Carnavont looked at her more. "It's just...this all feels a little...you know…"
"A little what?" Carnavont asked.
"You know...you….me….leaving your house...to work." Loona insinuated shyly.
Carnavont went bright red as realization hit him. "O-oooh!"
"Sorry!" Loona said as she looked away.
"It's fine! Really!" Carnavont reassured in his own flustered state.
"You...sure?" Loona asked. "I mean, I don't seem...clingy or anything for having thought that?"
Carnavont smiled, "Yes, I'm sure. I mean it's hard to blame you for thinking that just a little considering the circumstances. Besides...it kinda does feel like that, doesn't it?" he commented with a slight chuckle. "I know you're not that kind of girl, especially since you haven't acted like one prior so it's no big deal."
Loona chuckled ever so slightly, "Thanks...I just…" Loona blushed.
"Really want to have that someone you can connect with, that you can be open with and love." Carnavont saiid with a reassuring smile. "Because you sure as hell couldn't have any of that in the hell hole they called an orphanage, try to be anything other than the toughest bastard in the cell and you get gutted. Or, if your lucky to be able to show how broken and sad you are, you're just thrown in with the others like you and then everyone's too scared to open up for fear of it being an act or losing it."
"Yeah...it's hard to believe Typhus made it to be adopted, not that he was any better off." Loona commented.
"From what I've learned, he was only in the orphanage for about a year or two." Carnavont explained before narrowing his eyes as he got visibly angry. "The ass hat that adopted him found his fur color unique."
Loona blinked in slight horror. "So he had to deal with that abuse…"
"His whole life." Carnavont confirmed.
Loona was stunned as she was left almost speechless. "Fucking hell…"
Not much was said after that as they continued to drive towards where Carnavont worked, Loona taking note of the much nicer area they were coming in to as compared to the rather shitty one where IMP was located. Her surprise was further increased when Carnavont pulled into the parking lot of an equally nice office building that again put the one IMP was in to shame. Of course, it wouldn't take much to do that, but the point still stood.
"HOUND's office...is in here?" Loona asked in almost disbelief.
"Carnavont smiled as he finished parking his van. "Yup, bit of a perk and show of good faith from my business backer."
"...How the fuck did you manage to convince who's backing you to be so generous?" Loona asked as she continued to let where Carnavont worked sink in.
"I was polite, among other things." Carnavont stated simply.
"Uh huh...things that Blitz definitely isn't." Loona remarked knowing animosity that sounded almost sarcastic.
"Tell me about it." Carnavont muttered.
The two got out of the van, heading into the building and straight to the elevators. While Hellhounds were treated and seen as less than even imps, Loona couldn't help but note no one really paid them any mind, which was both surprising and not surprising considering where they were. "So...what floor?" she asked.
Carnavont smirked slightly as he extended a finger to point up, "Top."
Loona blinked, again taken by surprise, something that Carnavont seemed to be good at doing. Sure IMP was on a pretty high floor where they were, but the top floor seemed quite impressive. She just nodded as she waited for the elevator door to open, the two getting in and Carnavont pressing the button for the top floor, just who was this backer of his and why were they so accommodating to what were essentially living property to most of hell? It didn't really help her awe as she saw that a good chunk of the top floor was vacant aside from the one large office that took most of it up revealed to be HOUND's when they got to the door.
"All this...is HOUND's?" Loona asked as she was still processing.
"Yup." Carnavont smiled as he opened the door, Typhus immediately standing at the reception desk to greet him.
"Good morning sir and...Loona." Typhus said in slight surprise. "It's good to see you again."
"Morning Typhus, long story short Loona ended up spending the night due to reasons, has the day off, and wanted to meet the others; they here?" Carnavont asked and Loona walked in, the female hellhound taking in the much nicer waiting area.
"Hey." Was all Loona could say as she took everything in.
Typhus nodded. "They are, just waiting for you as always."
"Good, thank you Typhus." Carnavont said as he went to the meeting room, Loona not far behind him still taking in how much nicer their office was. "Morning everyone." he said as he walked into the meeting room.
"Morning boss, who's the hottie?" Havoc asked as Loona followed him in. "Is she your girlfriend?"
"As a matter of fact, yes." Carnavont replied
Loona smiled awkwardly as she ever so sheepishly waved, Havoc and the others now looking at her in surprise. "Hello…"
Havoc blinked as he looked at Loonam a bit surprised. "Well, holy shit, boss wasn't joking when he said she hot." He commented.
"Yeah, no shit, Desy's still hotter though." Xera agreed.
Carnavont cleared his throat, "Anyway, Loona this is the rest of my team. There's Destra, she serves as our infiltration and long range specialist. Xira our firearms expert, Havoc our explosives specialist, and Zever our melee expert." he said as he pointed out each one.
"Nice to meet all of you." Loona said, taking special note of how much more diverse and specialized HOUND was compared to IMP. Sure they had the gun and melee experts like IMP, well...as expert as you could call Moxxie or Millie. She swore sometimes Moxxie just got lucky with how much of a nervous spazz he could be, and Millie...well, she was more of a berserker than expert. Not that those two weren't skilled, they just didn't give off the same vibe as those in HOUND. Well, Xera might have the same vibe as them to a degree.
"It's nice to meet you Loona." Destra greeted her with a smile. Though Loona could swear she was ever so subtly looking her over, maybe appraising her.
"Yes, it's a pleasure to meet you, isn't it?" Zever echoed as he looked at Havoc and Xira.
"Yeah, nice too meet ya." Havoc greeted.
"REAL nice to meet ya hot stuff." Xera commented, looking Loona over a bit more blatantly than Destra did.
"So, to what do we owe the visit, or is this more than a visit?" Zever inquired.
"Just a visit…" Loona commented, despite being one to go to parties, she still wasn't really great at socializing with others.
"Kind of a far distance to visit, especially if Carnavont picked you up I'm assuming…" Destra commented as they all looked at him.
"Yeah...and with you still being on time too…" Havoc mentioned.
A large grin started to form on Xera's mouth. "You sly son of a bitch…"
"What?! No!" Carnavont exclaimed as he and Loona turned bright red. "I mean yes, she stayed at my place last night after we met up, but we DIDN'T do THAT!"
"Oh really?" Xera smirked, getting out of her seat and heading over to him, sniffing a little, causing both Carnavont and Loona to blush.
"H-hey!" Carnavont practically jumped as he blushed.
"Then why's her scent on ya and yours on her hmm?" Xera inquired.
"We shared a bed, nothing more! I didn't want her sleeping on the couch and she refused to let me so...we just shared my bed." Carnavont explained.
"Awe, that's really sweet." Destra commented with a warm smile.
"Yeah, you're quite the guy boss, any other guy woulda took full advantage." Xira commented as she looked to Loona, "Hell, I would've." she teased. "But seriously, you two seem nice together, hope it keeps up." she said before heading back to sit next to Destra, kissing her cheek.
"Thanks...You all certainly seem pretty cool." Loona said as she tried to get herself out of her awkwardness. Sure she managed to socialize before, even with other hellhounds at Tex's party, but there was just something about it being Carnavont's employees that made her just a bit nervous, possibly because she thought so much of him. "You have a nice place too, far better than what IMP has."
"We are pretty cool, but that's only because the boss knows bad ass when ge sees it." Havoc grinned. "Only accepted the best."
"Or in your case, what he could get." Zever remarked.
"Please, you couldn't find someone better than me Zev." Havoc replied as he continued to grin as he leaned back iin his chair and folded his arms behind his back.
"Uh huh." Zever commented, his unamusement clear.
"I also wanted to see what this place was like...in case I ever took Carnavont up on his offer." Loona added.
"Offer?" Destra asked.
"He uh...said that if I ever wanted or needed, I'd be welcomed here." Loona explained, the others now looking at Carnavont.
"She's had to deal with Blitz a fair bit, the guy's an asshole who clearly just doesn't know how to properly do things when it comes to being a functional living being. It's why I went to meet with her yesterday, and why she spent the night. Well, I also helped her find their backer's kid, but it was mostly the whole Blitz being an absolute ass." Carnavont explained. "I offered not just because of that, but she does have potential."
"Fair enough, we'd be more than happy to have you as part of the team if you ever joined." Destra said with a smile.
"Yeah, if the boss vouches for ya you gotta be pretty bad ass." Havoc agreed.
"Could always use another bad ass girl around here to even things out." Xera smirked.
"Thanks." Loona smiled.
"So...who is your backer, if you don't mind me asking? I have been curious how IMP got started." Zever inquired.
"Well, Blitz found the two lovebirds by pure chance and found the office for dirt cheap." Loona explained. "It wasn't until he got in touch with Stolas that he had a means to get places. Though honestly, even that I'm pretty sure he just happened to remember or run into by chance." She remarked with doubt.
The others, even Zever's, eyes went wide for a brief second before their gaze quickly darted to Carnavont, who just gave them a look back. "I see...sounds like he's the type to act before planning." Zever said.
"Yeah, tell me about it. I swear the guy's not only illiterate, but has no clue how to do anything." Loona muttered. She had happened to catch the brief reaction of the others when she mentioned Stolas' name, it was the same reaction that Carnavont and Typhus had when Octavia had mentioned who her dad was. She could swear Havoc looked like he was about to spit out anything he had happened to drink and that Xera was holding back exclaiming something with every bit of strength she had.
She found it odd, but just chalked their reaction up to it being to the fact it was one of king Paimon's sons. But then there was the brief glances they had with Carnavont, that was a little weird. Especially considering that their own backer had to be a noble of some stature, so it shouldn't have been that surprising. Then again, this was Blitz that managed to get Stolas, so it might have been that. Regardless of the reason, she wasn't going to pry, if it was important Carnavont would tell her in time.
"I can believe it." Carnavont commented, disdain clear in his voice.
"Anyway, I hope you guys don't mind if I hang around and see how you do things...if that's alright…" Loona said, feeling a bit awkward once more. Here she was, an employee from a rival, admittedly barely competent enough, business asking if it'd be alright to be around for the day. She wouldn't blame them for saying no or thinking that that she was there to take stock of them or something. But she didn't want to be rude, even if Carnavont had brought her to meet them. She just had so few opportunities to have normal interactions, especially with her own kind, thanks to Blitz's overprotectiveness and her own shit.
"I don't see any problem with it do you guys?" Destra piped up after a few seconds, looking to the others.
"I see no issue." Zever agreed. "If you do have potential like the boss says, and they are indeed not being put to full use by your current employer...even if he's your father, then it's a waste. Call us curious to see what you might can do."
"Yeah, let's see how much ass you can kick." Xera grinned. Can't imagine our boss would find himself interested in someone who couldn't potentially fight back and possibly kick his ass." She commented with a teasing grin.
"Physical prowess isn't everything love." Destra cooed as she ran a hand along Xera's cheek. "We both know that it's all about pushing…" She placed a kiss on Xera's ear. "The right…" Destra then kissed Xera's cheek as she placed a hand on Xera's chest, caressing it slowly. "Buttons…" She finished as placed a final kiss on Xera's neck as she reached around and squeezed Xera's ass. "And knowing the right tools for the job."
Xera heated up as her tail stiffened. "Heh...love it when you go all seducer…"
"There will be more of it tonight~." Destra winked.
Xera grinned widely. "Fucking love you babe."
"I know." Destra smirked.
"Yeah, let's see what kind of body count you can rack up hot stu-" Havoc stopped as Carnavont shot him a look. "I mean...Loona."
"Thanks...I'll do my best." Loona said with a slight smile. This was more to what she liked, no one giving her shit and actually letting her be more than just a glorified receptionist and understanding her potential value. That, and their clients were probably less shitty looking and stupid.
"Sir…" Came Typhus' voice from the reception area. "We got some clients."
"Thank you Typhus." Carnavont called back before looking to the others. "Well them, looks like we got another full day ahead of us, you guys ready?"
"Yes sir." Destra and the others said in response.
"That's what I like to hear." he smirked before looking to Loona. "What about you? You don't have to help us out, you could just relax and hang around with Typhus since it's your off day. I'm sure he'd enjoy the company."
"No, I want to help." Loona assured. "It might be my day off, but I really don't get to do a lot at IMP unless they decide to include me for whatever reason. I want to be out there more…"
"Alright." Carnavont smiled. "OK everyone, let's show Loona what things are like here at HOUND."
"Sir!" The others said with a smile.
Loona blinked, for all their varied personalities they were like a well oiled machine when it came to business. It was surprising really, she was so used to the chaos and bickering at IMP between Blitz and Moxxie, as well as Moxxie's constant stiff personality. She got a hint of that from Zever, but he seemed to be able to know when to not be a douchy tight wad about things unlike Moxxie. No, he seemed more the reserved professional compared to the fatso.
Havoc seemed cool, maybe a bit cocky, but she did like his vibe overall. And then there was Destra and Xira...both were cool in their own way, she had the strong feeling they were both from the lust ring, and not just because of their fur color or demeanor. There was something else about them too...they seemed to have some similarities, and similar scents...at least as far as she could tell from standing close enough to Destra and then Xira passing by her.
Oh well, it was something she'd ask about later, not wanting to be rude right off the bat...even though she usually didn't mind being abrasive. She just felt more...willing to be friendly around Carnavont and his employees. The better atmosphere of his business didn't hurt either, that dump of a work place she worked in was far from how this place felt, at least to her. Loona found herself looking forward to seeing what a day for HOUND was like, if only to rub it in Blitz's face later. That, and spending more time around Carnavont.