Balin was shell-shocked at what he was witnessing in the bathroom mirror. His hellhound fever had turned him into a real hellhound puppy, overnight!
"Balin?" Loona said, peaking her head through the door. "You OK?"
"What is-?" he stuttered, his shock bubbling in him. "What's happened to me?"
"Kiddo, you're..." she spoke again in her surprise also. "You're a hellhound?"
"Oh no." he began tearing up. "No, no, no! It can't be! I CAN'T BE-!"
"Hey, hey, hey."
Loona tried to soothe him, but only for Balin to run out of the bathroom crying. But as he tried to reach his bedroom, he accidentally bumped his gut into the kitchen counter instead, thanks to some sort of new super-speed.
"Oh my Sat- BALIN!" she gasped, as she knelt down and held him close. "NOW are you OK?"
"GAH!" the little boy groaned in pain, as Loona started rubbing his belly.
"I know, I know how you feel." she soothed him more. "It took me a long time to get used to my super sp-"
"My tummy." Balin interrupted, feeling the fur on his stomach being stroked. "Why is it so... hairy?"
Loona then showed a nearly heartbreaking look on her face, and Balin noticed it. So to hide his tears, he crawled into his room and closed the door, unknowingly with his little tail.
In his room, the boy tried not to look at himself in the mirrors of his closet's sliding doors, as he tried to poof back to his normal young and loveable human form, the way Loona could, hoping it'd make her feel better.
"Come on, Balin." he grunted to himself. "You've seen Loona do it, many times. Surely you can...! Do it...!"
Loona heard him try to do it with her sense of hearing and knocked on the door for him.
"Balin?" she softly spoke. "Meal?"
"Loona! Please! Don't come in!" the boy replied on the other side. "I'm trying to become a human again!"
"Buddy, c'mon. It's just me." she spoke again. "I don't think it's bad."
"But Loona, I'm... I-I'm-"
"A monster?" Loona finished for him.
The boy soon stopped stuttering after hearing Loona say that, and opened his bedroom door slightly, seeing her worried look.
"Uhh... a hellhound." he replied gently. "I'm not a monster. Am I?"
"No. But, I'm glad you don't think that." Loona then opened the door a little more. "Still. What's so wrong about this?"
"Nothing. I just..." the boy tried to find an answer, but couldn't. "I-I..."
It was then Loona wrapped her arms around the boy. A few seconds later, she even began softly scratching behind his ears. Melting to the feeling, Balin then started sobbing into Loona's lower-abdomen as he hugged her back.
Feeling the embrace, Loona got the strength to carry the boy-turned pup and sit down with him on his bed, continuing to scratch his ears until he ran out of tears to shed.
"Shhhhh. There, there, kiddo." she smiled, small but warm. "Don't cry."
"Thank you, Loona." Balin sniffled, showing only a small smile while he still looked away from her. "I'm sorry."
"Sorry for what?" she asked in curiosity.
"I tried to turn back into a human. I thought you said all hellhounds could do that." he explained. "But, why can't I?"
"C'mon, don't focus on that. Not a lot of hounds can do that." she sighed, before she got an idea in her head. "Or... maybe you still have hellhound fever."
"I still have the hellhound fever?" the boy then looked up to see her as she nodded gently. The tears were dried, but the surprise was shown again. "B-B-But I don't understand. I'm feeling better. I'm not coughing, or sneezing, and Via said the bad stuff in my tummy was gone."
"Shhhhh. Just breathe." Loona soothed him with her finger on his snout, as he took a couple of deep breaths. "You doing okay now?"
"Uh-huh?" Balin softly whispered in response.
"That's a good boy, kiddo." she replied, giggling a little before soothing him some more. "I think it's just another side effect of hellhound fever in humans. Much different to a cough or a sneeze."
"Really? So... will this pass in a while too?" he asked her. "I don't want to stay like this forever. I want to be your little Meal again."
Loona felt a stop in her heart for a moment, before she nuzzled his head with her nose in response.
"But you already are."
The boy tilted his head in intrigue like a real puppy, then tilted it on the other side and continued this until Loona held onto his shoulders.
"Here. Give me your hand." she then traced one of her hands down his arm without scratching it, until she made it to his. "What do you see?" she asked with a gentle smile.
As Balin reluctantly held his hand up, he saw Loona's holding it, intertwining his fingers.
"You holding my paw?" he replied questionably.
"Close." she said. "You, holding my, hand."
"Oh? Ohh..." the boy's eyes widened a little more, almost misty, as if he wasn't getting scared anymore.
Seizing that opportunity, Loona decided to move onto the last part. The advanced stage.
"Yeah. Now, come with me. Right through here." she kept smiling softly for him, holding his hand back to the bathroom. "So what do you see now, in the mirror?"
Balin then looked hard in the mirror, reflecting his hellhound puppy form. It was a dingo-like breed with fur as golden as a near-roasted marshmallow, with patches of white fur on his cheeks, his elbows, and his tummy. He had small nails on his fingers, and double-dew claws on his feet instead of toes, which now had paw-pads underneath them. And he couldn't forget about long and bushy tail. Not as bushy as Loona's, but definitely thinner.
Seeing this reflection for about 10 seconds, Balin only let one tear escape his eye, before touching the mirror gently.
"W'sup now, kid?" Loona grinned. "Do you like it?"
Balin then wrapped is arms around Loona for yet another hug, but this time, a thankful one.
"I love you." he replied, his voice muffled into her tummy.
Her grin soon melted into a smile as she gave him head-pats, and even little ear scratches too, which had his little tail wagging in no time.
"See? You're not a monster." she softly spoke. "You're just look a little different at the moment."
"Thank you Loona." replied the boy again.
"Don't mention it." Loona ruffled his head. He may have had fur, but the soft patch of brown hair on his hair was still on top. "C'mon, that's enough hugging this morning. There's still an hour of Saturday Magpie left in your room."
"Oh my gosh, I forgot." gasped Balin, as he held her hand back to his room. "Sorry I freaked out back there."
"Nah, all good, little bro. No wonder you acted like a total pup at the vet yesterday." she chuckled again.
"The VET?!" Balin exclaimed, as Loona just laughed a little more.
...
A few moments later...
Balin and Loona shared his bed, watching his world's Saturday cartoons, such as an episode of:
100% WOLF: LEGEND OF THE MOONSTONE - 'Doom and Rune'
as Loona soon nuzzled her nose on the boy's tummy like a mama wolf, giving him a belly tickle like she did with the Balin-like wolf pup in her dream last night.
Soon though, she snapped out of it and sat back up, blushing in a little modesty.
But a moment later, they both perked their ears up to hear the door being knocked on.
"Hello? Loona? Balin?" It was Via. "Anybody home?"
"I'll be right back, buddy." Loona ruffled his hair again real quick before leaving the room and answering the door.
All the while, Balin was about to hide under the covers, until an instinct took over, and he cheekily got an idea.
Loona opened the apartment door to see it was both Via AND Millie.
"Oh. W'sup you TWO." she said, trying to look calm and collected.
"Morning to you, TOO, Loona." said Millie excitedly. "Is the sweetheart awake?"
"He's... just, watching cartoons?" replied Loona, with a little concern. "He's just starting to recover."
As Millie opened his bedroom door, she saw what she thought was a dingo puppy on all fours, that soon pounced on her and started giving her doggy kisses, making her laugh like a little girl.
"Awww! HAHAHAHAHA!" laughed Millie. "I love you too- HAHAHAHAHA! ...Darling?"
Soon, Balin stopped, having gained control of his hound side and moved back with a flustered look on his furry face.
"Oh my Satan..." she then gasped seeing the resemblance and his PJs. "Balin, is that you?"
"Yeah...? It's me...?" he said quietly, in worry that she'd hate him.
But the opposite soon happened.
"You... are so... EFFING CUTE!" she squealed as she picked him up and squeezed him for a tight hug, nuzzling him with her hair. "Now it's time for ME to give you kisses!"
Millie started kissing the boy all over his face, turning his modesty to laughter as Blitzø, Moxxie, Neptune and Marijiana all stormed into the room.
"Millie, are you ok-?" Millie was about to finish his sentence to see his wife, who he thought screamed in terror, was actually kissing a hellpup's cheek.
"Shut the front door the fuck up, is that- BALIN?!" Blitzø exclaimed in shock.
"Blitzø!" snapped a snarling Loona.
"Sorry, Loonie." the boss chuckled anxiously, but still in shock. "It's just... Balin's a hellhound?"
"B-B-But, how?" Moxxie added.
"It must be a hellhound fever symptom?" replied Via.
"Well, must be. Why do you seem so surprised?" asked Blitzø. "Doesn't every demon get it like that?"
"Not me and my dad." replied Via more seriously. "Us Goetias are immune, remember?"
"Pfft! Lucky bitch." whispered Blitzø to himself.
Just then, Vortex walked into the apartment.
"Hey guys, w'sup?" he greeted everyone. "Is Balin in his-?"
Before Tex could open the boy's bedroom door to check on him, he saw Loona grab him from Millie's grasp.
"Aww. Who's this other little-?" he then gasped. "Hold the phone... Is that-?"
"UGH! Yep! Yep! Everyone, this is the kid. The kid, this is everyone." groaned Blitzø. "There. Now we're all friends."
"Yeah... it's me. Everyone." chuckled Balin anxiously. "Do you like me?"
"Like you?" Moxxie asked with a scoff. "We LOVE you!" Millie then squealed with delight.
"Really?" the boy then smiled a tiny bit, but his tail began wagging again.
Blitzø then noticed the thin tail swishing back and forth in a mild pace, and slithered up next to him like a lizard to try and pet it.
"Holy shit, you guys." he boomed. "You gotta touch this kid. He's like a teddy!"
With a shrug, Moxxie and Millie walked up to Balin and petted each side of his furry body. Instead of resisting, the boy started stomping his foot up and down like the puppy he now was.
"Oh, crumbs." Moxxie's eyes sparkled at the fluff. "I honestly didn't think humans could do this."
"Sweetie, you are so fluffy, I AM GONNA DIE!" Millie squealed through her teeth. "I just wanna use your fur as a blanket!"
"Huh?" the boy widened his eyes with a blush at the idea.
"N-N-N-Not in a bed way, buddy." Moxxie clarified with reassurance. "Hellhound use that as a compliment here. Or as a racial slur, in Loona's case."
"Watch it, fatty...! Not in front of them." sang Loona in her annoyed self.
"Yeah, Balin. I mean, we get compliments like this all the time." smiled Neptune.
"And out of all the little puppies we've seen around these parts, you're the totes cutest!" added Marijiana.
"Wow. Aww, thank you." panted Balin as M&M continued petting him. "So... you guys are okay with me being like this?"
"...Just as long as you don't let Verosika near you, lil' man." answered Tex. "She loves puppies more than she does with kids."
"Believe me." chuckled Blitzø with a dark expression. "I've seen that first-hand when we were dating."
...
FLASHBACK:
Years ago, when Blitzø and Verosika were a thing, V was signing autographs for degenerate adult fans, until she saw a couple of hellpups in the line.
"AWWW! Well aren't you two the cutest things in Hell! C'mere!" she said, picking them up and took them away from their parents.
Blitzø then facepalmed in embarrassment and fear.
A few minutes later, Verosika was singing a cover of Donny Osmond's 'Puppy Love', dedicated to the puppy she was holding in her arms.
"Now who wants a piece of THIS, MOTHERFUCKERS!" she screamed through the microphone, before throwing the puppy over the audience like a baseball.
"I JUST WANTED YOU TO SIGN MY RECORD!" the pup screamed over the crowd of roaring fans.
...
Everyone was now wide-eyed and shocked as Hell to hear that from Blitzø, even Balin.
"Nah, dude." Tex cringed softly.
"On one hand, it's kinda nice to know you haven't always been the fucked-up one with relationships." said Moxxie.
Loona then shook off her shock to get back on track with the situation.
"Via, does you dad even know about any of this symptom?" she asked the Goetia princess.
"I don't think so." she replied. "Maybe he might."
"OK, we're gonna see if he does or doesn't." she said, grabbing Balin and her purse. "Move it or lose it."
"Or booze it!" finished Blitzø.
"This is the luckiest you've been all morning, Blitzø." his daughter grumbled, walking out of her apartment. "Don't break it."
AT STOLAS' MANSION...
Stolas examined Balin's hellhound form in his laboratory like a doctor, while the entire I.M.P gang stood by.
"A remarkable discovery..." he gasped in his soft accent. "Are you positive you can't feel a single flu symptom?"
Balin shook his head in response.
"Discovery, eh?" Blitzø scratched his chin. "Ah, looks like we found out what can happen when a human does contract hellhound fever."
"You mean, nothing like this happened before?" asked Loona.
"Correct, my dear Loona." replied Stolas before whispering to himself. "Hmm... Now judging by his now-healthy system-"
"Mr. Stolas? I know I'm not sick anymore, not really, but will I be like this forever?" asked Balin.
"I don't know, little one." replied Stolas, smiling kindly at him. "The results may take some time to uncover, but, my studies are showing me this may be short-term."
"Which means...?"
"It means that I may be right." grinned Loona. "It'll pass after all, kiddo."
"The question is when 'exactly' though." Moxxie then said. "It's like I said before, I didn't even know humans could be sick with this."
"Well, while we find out... Via? Why don't you take Balin out to the garden for a bit?" Stolas asked his daughter. "We'll bring you right back in when we have the prognosis."
"Okay, dad." sighed Via with a thumbs-up, before holding Balin's hand playfully. "Come on, sweetie. You wanna play?"
"PLAY?"
Just like a puppy, Balin's ears perked up before he ran across the corridor on all fours, with Via chasing after him with a giggle.
"Now, as for everyone else, come." Stolas then opened the library doors. "There should be the guide to this that Via told me of in here."
The entire gang followed the demon prince into his home library, while Loona stayed in the back, looking behind her.
She couldn't help but feel a little... regretful, knowing the reason why Balin got hellhound fever in the first place.
A/N: See y'all in the next chapter.