MONDAY...
It was now a couple days into November, and with his uniform and backpack around his shoulders, Balin returned to Holy Water School excited to see his friends again after Halloween night.
One of the ballsiests Halloweens he ever had already. And he was just a little kid!
The boy waltzed along the courtyard with his smile as he soon put his backpack on the rack, just in time for the bell to ring.
Balin then walked down to his homeroom and saw Matt standing among the students in the classroom hallway.
"Matt!" he shouted to him happily.
"Balin!" his BFF shouted back, as they gave each other their signature BFF handshake.
BALIN - "You happy?"
MATT - "No, you happy?"
BALIN & MATT - "Cupcake!"
The two went straight into homeroom to start the day by getting their names marked off, while Leni and Buzz eyed the two suspiciously from the other side of the classroom.
...
AT LUNCH-TIME...
After the first half of the school day, (English and Music), it was now the lunch period as Balin waited for his tuck-shop order.
"Order 123!" one of two lunch ladies yelled.
One lunch lady was a skinny 60-year-old with glasses and a pot-belly that made her look like a ballerina, and the second one was a sexy 24-year-old daughter of hers with an afro of blond white hair.
Balin ran up to the pick-up side of the tuck-shop and grabbed his lunch order from the bench, getting a sneaky kiss on the head by the younger lunch lady, making him blush wildly before shaking it off and leaving.
His usual lunch order was a garlic bread, a slice of marble cake, and two strawberry milks. One for him, one for Matt.
So when he arrived at his friendship group's lunch table near the playground, Balin threw him the bottle, and with a successful catch, the two went:
'A toast, to our us mates!'
The other friends smiled as the two drank their 'pink' milks at the same time.
"So guys, I heard about your little Halloween fiasco." said Roxanne. "I'm so sad that I left so soon! Because that looked like so much fun!"
"Yeah, me too. I'm not only bummed that I had my allergy therapy, I'm actually quite jealous too." chuckled Frank.
"Heck yeah it did." Whitey chuckled also. "But good news, my YouTuber costume recorded it."
"Wait, wait, wait." James was surprised. "There was a camera in your costume?"
"I did. I wanted it to look like the real thing, so with my dad's help, I installed my iPad into where the fake laptop was."
"Can you show me the video?" asked Luann.
"Absolutely."
Whitey showed the video as a few of the kids looked over his shoulder, including Balin. As rather surprised and nervous as he was to see nearly the whole thing on camera, it luckily ended when the gang got to the clubhouse.
"Speaking of which... I'm sorry about your grounding, Balin." Amy said in sympathy. "This weekend must've been hard."
"Yeah. Only a little." he sighed with a little sorrow. "But can I tell you guys a secret?"
Everybody at the table leaned closer to listen as Balin spoke his secret to them, softly. "Loona's punishments aren't as bad as I thought they were."
"Really How so?" asked Jerry.
"Wasn't there a lot of... discipline?" asked James.
"Oh, there was." replied Balin. "But she says she prefers to play by her own rules when it comes to groundings."
"Ohhh..." went the kids in curiosity.
"Now that you mention it, it's evident that young adults are a little care-free at taking care of kids." explained Darius. "Is Ms. Loona like my babysitter, Balin?"
"...I think so." Balin explained some more. "She once told me that she loves wolves, and wolves can be a phobia of mine at times, because of how they eat people. But, she's from America, and she says they don't. Anyway, I actually made a top-secret video of how she does punishments in the... 'Loona Hearts Balin'house?"
"You did? Well show us." said Darius.
So Balin gave Whitey his phone, since he surprisingly brought his YouTuber costume to school, and he uploaded it to his iPad via airdrop and placed it onto the laptop part of the costume.
Soon, everyone gathered around as the video started.
...
VIDEO:
The video is shown at the clubhouse, where Loona sits at thecouch, texting and watching the TV.
Balin slightly opens the door and Loona looks up from her phone, widening her eyes and perking her head up, before putting on a playful smirk and growling him back into his bedroom as he lets out a squeal-like giggle.
But a few seconds after she giggles and goes back to texting, she hears the door open again and close real fast.
She looks up to see the door is now shut, but Balin's hair is shown from the other couch.
So she growls like the wolf she is underneath again and goes back to texting, but this time, slowly standing up to prowl towards him.
But as she gets closer, Balin starts running around the house with her chasing after him.
"COME BACK, YOU PUNISHED LITTLE MEAL!" she playfully barks. "COME BACK AND BE GROUNDED!"
"FREEDOM!" squeals Balin in laughter.
The two run around the clubhouse living room until Loona eventually corners him at the door to the laundry, circling him like a hungry wolf. And as the suspense builds up, Balin tags Loona and tries toescape before she ends up winning and catches him.
"Let, me, go!" he tries wiggling his way out of her arms.
"Nope. You tried to run. Now you need to be punished more." whispers Loona. "With... let's see... Will snuggles do?"
"Oh no!" Balin pretends to act dramatic. "Not a snuggle!"
Loona then carries Balin back to his bedroom, nuzzling his hair with her chin while they were on camera, for his snuggly punishment.
VIDEO ENDS
...
Everyone had stunned looks on their faces, as they all tried containing their giggles, before bursting into laughter.
Even Balin laughed with them as well.
"Oh my Gosh! That was so flipping adorable, Balin." laughed Matt.
"She must be the best... not-mother ever!" added Amy.
"There is a word for that: Caretaker." Balin said. "Loona the Caretaker!"
"I didn't even know a costume like that could do... that, Whitey." James chuckled some more to their other BFF. "How'd you make that?"
"Design and technology is one of my classes." replied the boy with black curly hair.
"Certainly shows how 'SPECIAL' you are for that kinda class!" remarked Buzz.
The infamous Caster twins walked up to the group with their cackling posse, who cackled until Leni snapped her fingers.
"Hello, Balin." she said pompously. "Others."
"What are you doing here, Buzz and Leni?" asked Balin in surprise, trying not to look at them.
"You know the 'or'deal! You say no to us; shame on you." said Buzz. "You sic your mommy on us-"
"Your mommy sicks you two on him?" finished Matt sarcastically.
"Nope!" remarked Leni. "Now you've gone too far too."
Soon, the boys felt something wet and sticky hit their hair. Paper spitballs. Multiple that had hit Balin's hair.
"EWWW!" the other kids went.
Balin groaned, feeling sickened as he felt his head where the spit-wads hit him, as the posse then spat two in Matt's hair too.
"What the heck, you two?!" he exclaimed.
"Wasn't us." laughed the twins.
Amy then saw little bits of ink on the paper. "What's this?" She reluctantly grabbed one spitball and unfolded it. "Algebra-? Do any of you two want me telling Mrs. Brown that you ate your homework and spat it on Balin's head? Because I know her!"
"N-N-No?" stuttered Buzz, as Leni just stood her ground.
"Then go away!" Matt added for Amy.
"YEAH!" the rest of the kids crossed their arms at the two.
"Fine." Leni glared at Amy. "Whatever you say, Ms. Thinking-You-Can-Hang-With-This-Loser."
"Oh! And what's my first name?" she growled. "Do tell..."
"Amy, don't." Balin tried stopping her.
"First name: Fallen-From-What-Little-Grace-You-Had." Leni finished sinisterly as she walked off, flicking the wads out of Balin's head.
"Thank Goodness Loona and Via are giving me some hellhound training after school." the boy thought in his head, wondering if he could ever stand up to them.
A FEW HOURS LATER...
Balin met Loona out front of the school one again, running up to her and hugging her from the waist and she gently gave him head-pats before sniffing his head.
"Ugh. Why's your hair all wet and sticky?" she asked with a scoff.
Soon, the two made it to their safe zone, away from human eyes, and opened a portal back to Hell AND Stolas' garden where I.M.P were waiting.
"Blitzø? I.M.P? What are you all doing here?" Balin asked in surprise.
"What do ya think, puppy-boy?" asked Blitzø eccentrically.
"We're here to have a watch on your training so far, sport." smiled Moxxie. "And maybe even cheer on you as well." he then pointed to Millie.
Hearing that made Balin flush and feel a little nervous, knowing he was now doing this training session in front of his friends.
"Now just to let you guys know," Via said to the gang. "He's still a little new to this side of himself, both mentally and especially physically, so this may take a while. I mean, Satan knows how long it takes to train an actual hellhound pup."
"Oh, as a proud father of one, I can answer that." smiled Blitzø. "It didn't really take long with Loonie here, but she was ready out of the box. Or cell."
"She meant how long WITHOUT the doggy treats, dad." Loona sarcastically said with her quotation fingers.
"I didn't say 'I' had them, Loona." Blitzø then pointed to Marijiana, who had a box of doggy biscuits nestled in her hair.
"HEY!" Neptune barked at the boss, as her girlfriend growled to herself at this little attempt.
"Eh, worth the shot." the boss imp shrugged, grabbing the box and eating the biscuits as his own popcorn. "Whatever keeps 'em from shitting on your balcony makes you happy."
"...Right. Thanks..." replied Loona, a little reluctantly. "So, shall we get started, kiddo?"
Still feeling a little nervous, Balin calmly looked around at each of his friends, smiling as they were ready to watch his practice.
"Just say the word." Stolas said. "We're right here with you."
Then taking a deep breath, Balin confidently said: "Alright. Let's do this."
Everyone smiled wider hearing him say that, as Millie soon held up a jukebox and played some music for a...
...
TRAINING MONTAGE:
(A/N: Imagine 'Holding Out For a Hero' by Adam Lambert is playing right now)
The entire afternoon of part-hellhound training went in order:
HUNTING:
Via got out a live mouse from the kitchen fridge for Balin to practice his hunting skills on, without killing it. As Balin pounced it for the first time, the mouse ran away from him as he lead it to the courtyards where there weren't a lot of plants.
He continued trapping it and eventually ended up playing with it in his paws, his way of mauling it. Via made sure to blow the dog whistle when it was time to stop and move onto the next feet.
Thank goodness he knew when to just in time.
HIDE-AND-SEEK:
The entire gang started hiding around the gardens, including Loona and the Goetia demons, while Balin counted to 10 before trying to find them without sniffing.
Soon, he managed to find Loona first, giving her a hug and saying "You smell nice today. Like cinnamon."
"Aww. Why, thanks, buddy." Loona then stroked his hair behind his puppy ears, before he continued his search for everyone else.
SCENT TRAILS:
As Via covered Balin's eyes with her tail feathers, Stolas & Blitzø carried a heavy treasure chest through the garden all the way to a free patch of dirt where they dug a hole and buried it there.
Blitzø then used his flint to draw an X, marking the spot with bullets.
"And... go get it!" whispered Via, moving her feathers from his eyes.
The boy began sniffing for the treasure. This lasted for a few minutes, but the boy was soon able to find where the treasure was and dug it up super fast, before panting happily.
OBSTACLE COURSE:
The kid sprinted through the garden, learning a thing or two about how to turn at the right time and skid to a stop without hurting his small claws. The usual stuff when doing parkour.
But it wasn't easy for him, as he continued bumping into stuff, falling onto himself, and stop-drop-and-rolling out of control into the plants.
Everyone gathered in a group circle to see if he was okay, ...then spitting the flowers out of his mouth.
Balin nervously chuckled himself a smile, while Loona chuckled back, lifted him up, and ruffled his hair.
...
Soon, the hellhound training ended with a little bubble machine party in the garden, and Balin playfully barked as he caught a rubber ball, playing fetch with a laughing Blitzø nearby.
Loona quickly snatched one of his doggy treats during then, and ate it while no-one else was watching.
All in all, not bad for a great night of training.
BACK AT LOONA'S APARTMENT...
TV NARRATOR: *southern drawl* "So c'mon down! Imagination Castle will be open to y'all for book signings this Monday 3rd of November! Y'all no-nuts don't wanna miss it!"
Loona and Balin watched the boy's favourite show with him back in his normal form and in his bed, as preparation for tomorrow's meet-and-greet.
"But... that was today's date." Balin gasped in realisation. "Oh no, Loona! We missed it!"
"Hehehehe. Aww, no we didn't, sweetie." chuckled Loona. "Time works differently in a lot of countries. Remember?"
"Oh yeah." the boy immediately calmed down showing his smile again.
"So, got the book ready for the signing?" asked Loona, showing hers.
Balin then showed Loona the new critically-acclaimed autobiography 'ROOM BY ROOM' by Donatello Venison, aka: DEVO.
"Alright then kid, guess it's time for bed for both of us." Loona yawned, as the boy snuggled his head into his pillow.
"Good night, Loona." said the boy groggily, as he closed his eyes, waiting for a kiss from her.
Only for Loona to lie down next to him, wrapping her tail around his waist.
"Actually... You don't mind if I bunk with you tonight?" she asked, wagging the tip.
"OK. I love it when you snuggle with me." smiled Balin. "Like you did on the weekend."
"Yeah?" the hellhound smirked with a chuckle. "That was... quite the punishment video, huh? Especially when I pretended to eat you up."
Loona then started nomming on Balin's neck, making him laugh as she wrapped her arms around him.
"Best not show it to anyone other than your little friends." she then smirked at him more. "Or I might eat you up again."
"But I'm not food. I'm Balin." the boy tilted his head innocently.
"I know you are." giggled Loona, giving him a kiss on the cheek. "Get some rest. We have a big afternoon ahead of us tomorrow after school. Good night, puppy."
The two fell asleep as Balin fell asleep quick, snuggling into her fur while the TV continued playing.
TV NARRATOR: "Venison's new autobiography, ROOM BY ROOM, currently at the top of the best-seller charts, celebrates the journey of the corridors transforming over a hundred dreams into a reality, through the hotel rooms people created at the hands of this genius TV icon. But not everyone of many differences can dream the way he does."
CRITIC: "ROOM BY ROOM has quite the arresting subtitle: 'Devo's Building Dreams.' What's even more arresting is its moral: Every room tells a story of how creativity knows no bounds. But what Devo seems to fail to realise though is his own room could be hiding any reason to why this creativity exists in the first place. Because I on the other hand am from a part of the Earth where dreams can come and go in the most contrary of beliefs, so unless anyone can put in their own efforts, my answer frankly is no. As in no, I don't think anyone can make their dreams come true, just, like, that."
A/N: See y'all in the next chapter.