Opportunities everywhere

## Summary

Loona’s daughter Hala gets a job at a coffee shop in the human realm, and despite Blitzø’s objections, meets another Hellhound, becomes friends with them, and unknown to Blitzø, Moxxie, or Millie, Hala’s relationship with the Hellhound, named Claude, slowly blossoms into a romantic relationship.

## Characters

* Loona
* Blitzø
* Moxxie
* Millie
* Rasputin
* Vortex
* Verosika
* Hala
* Claude

## Hala’s POV

I have an unusual family.

They literally come in all shapes and sizes. I live with my mother, grandfather, and his coworkers. My 16th birthday passed 2 weeks ago, and I’ve been wanting to find a job, a place to have fun, make a mess of myself without feeling bad, and most of all, a friend, but it hasn’t been easy, as my grandfather, who has been more like a father to me than my actual father was (he left when I was born) has been annoyingly protective of me.

I see humans all the time. Grandfather keeps telling me that I’m too young, but I’m 2 years away from being an adult. I don’t exactly want to be a human, but I am fascinated by the human world. For some reason Grandfather seems vague in his way of describing it to me.

I need answers. Perhaps I should try asking either Mama or Vortex. Maybe Rasputin can sneak me a look.

But now I’m stuck just wishing, and wishful thinking doesn’t always bring you answers.

I walk through the hallway and spot my mother, Moxxie, and Millie, along with my grandfather. He has a stick pointed at a board covered in haphazard drawings of him, Loona, and the others. Rasputin too

But not me.

Why am I not included in this?

“What are you doing?” I ask.

“Murder planning. Some guy wants us to kill his neighbor.” Mom replies.

“Mom, I want to join.” I say. “I’m old enough to join. You were part of this when you weren’t much younger than me.”

Mom sighs. “I’m sorry, Hala. Unfortunately it’s not up to me.” she says.

“It’s up to Blitzø.”

I groan. “But mom, I’ve been wanting to see the human realm. It’s…interesting. You’re literally co-boss. You have more power over us than you did years ago. Doesn’t that count for something?”

“Rules are rules.” she says softly. “I just want to keep you safe.”

“Right.” I mutter. “But at the cost of boring me out of my mind. I’ve had four sodas in the past hour and have been staring out the window for a while. Watching boiling rainfall gets old. Being stuck here listening to comedy tapes over and over again while you guys go topside is no fun”

“We’ll find a way.” she says. “I promise.”

“I wish I had a job.” I say.

“You’ll get one someday.” Millie says. “Hala, we all believe in you.”

A grin plays at the corners of my mouth. “Let’s hope opportunities come to me.”

“They will. Except you have to look for them.” mom says. “They don’t just come to you.”

I hope that’s true.

“Don’t feel bad.” Rasputin says. “This happened to me too when I was your age. Eventually I was able to get the job I wanted, but here’s the deal, I know you want to go to the human world, but maybe Blitzø will let us if I go with you. Who knows? Maybe you’ll find someone to really connect to.”

“Pupu, you’re a genius.” I say. “I just hope this works.”

“Now let’s go.” she says. “We have a whole world to explore.”

We walk down the hallway and spot my mother, grandfather, Moxxie, and Millie.

“Oh hey.” I say. “I was thinking maybe I could go with you guys? You know, to the human realm.”

Grandfather’s face changes to a stern look. “Absolutely not, I forbid it. Not gonna happen. Sorry, sweetheart. Crowded coffee shops are no place for young, vulnerable buff girls. You know the kind of FREAKS up there who'd drool all over you! You’d be safer working at I.M.P.”

“Safer sitting my ass down at the phone all day?! You’re so crazy!” I shoot back.

“Dad, let her go with me.” Rasputin says. “I can supervise if necessary.”

“Oh, all right.” Grandfather sighs. “If everything goes well—“

“Then she can go herself.” Mom says. “I know you make the rules, but Hala isn’t exactly a kid anymore.”

I face her. “Thanks.” I whisper. “Now I need to find a job.”

Rasputin snaps her fingers, and opens a portal to the human realm.

“How did you do that?” I say. “I thought we needed Stolas’ grimoire.”

“Well, the more you know.” she replies. “Magic can be learned.”

I take her hand. “Get ready to experience things you haven’t experienced before, and meet people you’ve never known about.”

I nod. “It’s go time.”

The portal lands us in a plaza filled with crowds of people.

It is *amazing.*

“Hey, so do you guys wanna get coffee?” Moxxie asks. “There’s a JavaHut over there.”

“Sure.” I say, promptly shapeshifting into my human form. “Mom, Rasputin. Shift. Moxxie, Millie, Grandpa, you two find a way to disguise yourselves enough that people don’t know where we’re from.”

“I do have some old clothes.” Rasputin says, shifting, and pulling out a large but surprisingly light box. “The rest of you, put these on.”

Minutes later, they are all poorly disguised, but I don’t think anyone will care.

I walk into the coffee shop where a slip of paper catches my eye.

*We’re hiring. Come inside and consult management for more information. We’d love to have you.*

“Oooooo.” I say. “This is interesting.”

I spot one of the employees as they serve coffee to one of the people at the tables.

They look different.

It’s something that takes me a while to comprehend.

Suddenly, they look at me.

“Hala, what are you doing? Don’t get lovestruck under my watch! We came here under the condition that you don’t make a mess of yourself.

I drop my human form and walk up to them.

“Uh... ¿Qué está pasando, señorita?” they ask.

“What’s going on?…Well…”

“Uh is your dad okay?” the employee asks. “He’s been gawking at us.”

“That’s how he is.” I say. “I-I’m…My name’s Hala.”

“I’m Claude.” they reply. “Nice to meet you.”

“I want to ask you something.” I say.

“Go ahead.” He says, taking a sip from his coffee.

“Are you….a…a…”

“Hellhound? Yes. Also my pronouns are they/them and also he/him.” Claude finishes.

The hellhound in front of me has brown fur with lighter layers, and a white tuft of fur on their chest. They have a slightly muscled frame and two earrings in one ear. Their voice is rich and melodic but possesses a slight gruffness that pops out when he takes orders from customers, like somehow he doesn’t reveal too much of himself often, but when he sees another Hellhound, we converse like familiars.

“Also about your dad…and the lady next to him…”

“Is my mom, yes.”

Claude’s face softens.

“You look nice.” I say.

“Thank you.” he says softly.

“How did you end up here? At the coffeehouse?”

“My previous employer was a dirtbag to me. Kept saying I was the wrong color, thought I was supposed to be female, Like bitch, what am I supposed to do? Paint myself gray? *Aaaaaanyway*, ran away and now work here. I revealed my true form to the manager and she actually liked it. So here I am self employed. You meet interesting people here. I also do free kills.” Claude replies. “Though I do not kill often because it’s not that fulfilling to me.”

“Free kills?”

“With arrows. I have vipers chew on them before I find my target.”

“You could work for my dad’s company…If you want to, that is.” I say.

## Claude’s POV

“Hold on, what the fuck are you doing with my…granddaughter?” one imp steps close to me with an angry look on his face.

“Woah woah woah Little dude, relax. We were just talking. Heard you run a company that kills on request. Usually I kill alone (I’m self employed) but perhaps I could try working with you. I use poison arrows. Less conspicuous.” I say. “What’s your name?”

“Blitzø. The O is silent.”

I nod. “I’m Claude. I’m sure you heard how I got to work here. I’ve never heard of an imp trying to start their own business until now.”

“And I’ve never heard of a Hellhound who works for themself.” he says.

“Times change.”

“Also did you say you use poisoned arrows?” Blitzø asks.

“Yes.” I say. “I dip them in snake venom. Mind you I already have a job here at the coffee shop but it would be interesting to kill and get paid.”

“oooooOOOOOOooooo I’ll consider it. Let me consult my other employees.” Blitzø says enthusiastically.

“So do you wanna hang out at my place? Although I have 2 younger sisters. One of them is a baby. She was born shortly before I moved back into my parents’ house when I ran away from my employers.”

“Sure, I actually haven’t seen any kids up close, but let’s do it! I’m free all day tomorrow.” Hala replies.

“See you tonight.” I say, blowing her a kiss as she walks off.

The sun nears the horizon, casting a yellow glow and tinging the sky pink. Keys jingling in one hand, I stick one into the the back door, locking the shop for the night.

I exit, and place the keys in a case. I get into my car and drive back, looking around for any familiar places.

This day was quite an eventful one.

Minutes pass, and I look at and see the moon, glinting off the sides of buildings. With a snap of my fingers, I teleport back to my own realm, where I reach my parents’ house, their windows lit by a yellow glow. The moon shines in the dark red sky of the Pride ring.

I enter the house and go into my room to change into a loose T-shirt and shorts. My pajamas.

“So, how was work?” Mom asks.

“I met a couple new people today.” I reply.

“Who were they?” she says.

“Another Hellhound.” I say. “A girl named Hala. She says she’s gonna work at the shop, along with an imp named Blitzø who runs a killing company. Even though I don’t kill very much, I might try to work there. Hala brought her mother too.”

“Honey, that’s wonderful.”

Mircala toddles up to me, with outstretched hands, and I scoop her up and cuddle her close to me.

“Awww hello cutie.” I say softly.

She giggles, then wraps her tiny arms around me.

I hear a knock at the door. The person standing in front of me is Hala in human form with a loose T shirt and baggy pajama pants.

“Oh hey.” I say softly. “Come on in.”

“Who’s the kid you’re holding?” she asks. “Her fur is different but her face looks like yours.”

“This is Mircala. My baby sister.” I reply.

“The one born shortly after you ran away?”

I nod. Hala closes the door behind her. I put Mircala down and the both of us flop down on one of the huge bean bag chairs located in the living room.

“What’s your story?” Hala asks. I attempt to reply, but am cut short by the creak of the patio doors opening, and closing with a light clatter.

## Hala’s POV

I spot another Hellhound run up to both of us. She looks similar to Claude, but with yellow eyes, lighter fur, and more white fur. She has wavy hair swept to one side, and a purple hoodie.

“Claude!” she says excitedly. “Ohhh I’m *so glad* you’re back!”

“Hala, this is my sister Lynn.” I say “She joined a karaoke club on earth, although you don’t have to be there every day. Just when you feel like you need to have a little fun.”

”Hala, what’s your job?” she asks

”I don’t exactly have a job yet, but right now I’m trying to work at the same place Claude works.”

”My brother is awesome.” Lynn says. “You should see when Claude uses his arrows!”

“Speaking of jobs.” Claude says.

“My family runs a company that takes requests from sinners on people they want killed for money.”

“Forgive me for sounding gruesome, but that’s cool.” Lynn says.

“Also where are your parents?”

“My dad left after I was born.” I say. “He wanted a boy.”

“What a jerk face.”

I nod. “Yeah, it was kind of a bad move on his part. Now I just live with my mom and adoptive grandfather. Mom was an orphan he adopted when she was almost 18. Him, mom, and their employees are the family I’m happy with, but I feel like thanks to you and Claude, it’s going to get a lot bigger.”

“I have something to tell you.” Claude says. “You ever heard of the Happy hotel?”

“Yeah.”

“One of my best friends, a succubus, works there.”

“Tell me more about her.” I say.

“She’s a famous singer in the human world, but she’s nothing like Verosika. Her songs are about things people actually like, not just riding the sex train all the time.”

“What’s her name?” I ask.

“Lilin Lawson. She has a daughter. Scarlemagne, or Scarla. She occasionally pops up here in human form for a frappuccino. She likes it here.”

“Wow. I’m interested.” Lynn and I say in unison.

The doorbell rings.

“Do you have a CD? I want to know what this lady’s songs sound like.” I say.

Claude lets the mystery guest in. the woman who enters is the same height as him, has long flowing hair, a button up shirt, lace up boots, and black pants. Her daughter, a younger succubus with hair tied in two ponytails and a black hoodie trails behind her.

“I’ve come to pay my friend a visit.”

“Also what’s with the speakers?” I ask.

“I want to test out a song I wrote.” Lilin says. “Do you and Claude wanna be backup vocals?”

“Sure!” Well you’re about to find out.” says the guest standing in the entrance. “I’m Lilin.”

”I’m Hala.” I say. “Nice to meet you.”

The girl walks up to me. “Claude told me about you.”

”Ready?” Claude asks. “A one, two, three four…”

*🎵~Vaycay, vaycay, vaycay-ay-ay!~*

*Summer sun, gotta run,*

*Meltin' my popsicle*

*whoo!*

*Heatstroke, AC's broke*

*Pool party, so tropical!*

*Swim fast, the day won't last*

*Sunglasses, optical*

*The blazing rays heat up the days*

*It's so diabolical!*

*Sun's coming up*

*Pour me another cup*

*Of that sweet syrup,*

*Up,*

*Up~*

*Bikinis on the beach*

*Like a succulent peach*

*Take a turn to play each*

*Hit*

*Song*

*Su-mmer vaca-a-tion!*

*Starting a war of water guns*

*Su-mmer vacay-a-tion!*

*All we want is fun in the sun!*

*Su-mmer vaca-a-tion!*

*Come swim in the deep blue o-cean*

*Su-mmer vaca-a-tion!*

*The waves will put us in mo-o-tion!*

*Vaycay, vaycay, vaycay-ay-ay!*

*Lots of laughs, no school exams,*

*Meltin' in the heat*

*whoo!*

*Animal in party pants*

*Rock-rockin' to the beat!*

*Gaze upon the ocean blue*

*So many friends to meet*

*Hot goss, lip gloss,*

*Give me all the deets!*

*Sun's coming up*

*Pour me another cup*

*Of that sweet syrup,*

*Up,*

*Up~*

*Bikinis on the beach*

*Like a succulent peach*

*Take a turn to play each*

*Hit*

*Song*

*Su-mmer vaca-a-tion!*

*Starting a war of water guns*

*Su-mmer vacay-a-tion!*

*All we want is fun in the sun!*

*Su-mmer vaca-a-tion!*

*Come swim in the deep blue o-cean*

*Su-mmer vaca-a-tion!*

*The waves will put us in mo-o-tion!*

*Vaycay, vaycay, vaycay-ay-ay!*

*It's the summer*

*Vaycay, vaycay, vaycay-ay-ay!*

*In the summer*

*Vaycay, vaycay, vaycay-ay-ay!*

*Everyone is wild and free*

*And all I want is you with me*

*So much fun now, can't you see?*

*During this summer vaca-ay-tion~🎶*

Claude’s voice blends with Lilin’s. His timbre layering over her singing gives me chills. His voice posssesses a subtle melodic rumble. The song ends on a stretched out note.

”Holy shit, Claude.” Amazement lines my voice. “You are really good.”

Claude laughs. “Thank you. It took me years, but it was so worth it.”

His eyes lock with mine. “Meeting you was worth it, mi amor.”

I gasp. “W-wow…That’s the nicest thing anyone’s ever said to me. Also…was that Spanish?”

”Yes.” Claude replies. “I grew up speaking both English and spanish.”

”I wish I knew Spanish. I never really got opportunities to learn another language when I was little.”

”There are plenty of opportunities to learn something.” Claude says softly. “I can teach you Spanish if you like.”

”Sure.” I reply.

Claude brings out a small stack of card stock. “These have words and their translations on the back. Let’s start with the basics, shall we?”

“Hold on.” Scarla says. “I seem to recall you had a little kid in the room, but where is she? She’s your baby sister, right?”

“I-oh no.” Claude says, fear in his voice. “Oh *shit.* Wh-where’s…WHERE’S MY BABY?!”

They frantically look around, searching the furniture.

“Claude, wait!” I say. “I can help you find her. Just write her name down on a piece of paper and we can both track her.”

“Actually she didn’t go far. She’s in one of the bedrooms.”

“Okay.” Claude nods.

“One question.”

“Yeah?” He faces me.

“I want to see your human form.”

I lead him into another room.

“Whose room is this?” I ask.

“Mine.” He replies.

“Wow. It’s really cool.” I say. “Looks comfy. But why is it kind of cold in here?”

“I get overheated in my sleep.” Claude replies.

“Can’t you just use your human form?” I ask.

“It helps, but not that much. And I don’t like sleeping unclothed. It just feels…wrong.”

“I know how you feel.”

“Good news!” I hear Lynn say from the other room. She walks over to Claude while holding Mircala in both hands.

“Thank god.” He says, setting her back down again, but not before giving her a small warning.

“Don’t stray too far next time, okay?” He says firmly, but softly, looking Mircala in the eye.

“Okay.” She replies, running into another room to play.

“So, how has everything been going?” I ask.

“Well, I suppose.” Claude replies.

“Bad news.” Scarla says. “I was at school today and one of my classmates has beef with you, Claude.”

“Is her name Morana?” He says, his voice tinged with anger. “They’re gonna have to deal with the fact I’m not coming back to them.”

Scarla nods. “I should’ve told her, but instead I kept quiet.”

“I’ll tell ‘em.” He says. “That is, if they ever get the liberty to break into my house saying they can do it just because I belong to them…”

“You don’t belong to anyone.” Scarla says. “But apparently they don’t know that.”

“They can go fuck themselves.” Claude says. “Except for Aretha. She was the only one in that family who genuinely cared about me, and still does, but we haven’t met up in years, and she’s the only one who calls me by the name I now go by. I wish I could see her again, but I’m afraid she won’t recognize me.”

“She will.” I say. “Mom saw you, but only for a couple minutes, but deep down I could tell she knew who I bumped in to.”

I hear another knock at the door.

“I’ll get it.” I say.

“Oh…actually I was going to do that.” Claude say.

“Okay…here.” I float out of the way as he opens the door.

## Claude’s POV

I open the door, and the person standing in front of me gives off a jolt of recognition.

“Hey, Claude.” she says. “We haven’t talked in a while. I wasn’t given enough time this afternoon since you seemed like you wanted to know my daughter.”

“Hi Luna.” I say. “It’s been a very long time. You sound…different from the last time I saw you.”

“Things have changed.” I say. “But in ways, I haven’t.”

“Just dropping in for a bit.” Luna says. “I’ll be out in a couple minutes if you two want time to yourselves.”

“Mom, you can stay if you like.” Hala says. “Claude might have you meet the rest of his family.”

## Hala’s POV

My eyes fall on a photo on the coffee table.

”Hey Claude, is this you?” I ask, showing him a photo. It’s of himself, holding his phone in front of a mirror, a small, but genuinely happy smile on his face. Claude’s chest is bandaged, with two small tubes poking out. His facial features are softer, and slightly rounder, and his hair is a bit longer, but swept back. He still has two earrings in his left ear and the same heart necklace he has now.

”Yeah. But I was a bit younger when I took that. I was 16 when I transitioned medically.” Claude replies.

”Wow. I’ve never really told anyone this, but you’re so…*handsome* in that photo, but in a weirdly childlike way. You still are now, but you’ve changed, and it’s for the better.” I say.

Claude smiles, and I feel his arms envelope me in a hug, and I take it all in.

The thrum of his heartbeat.

The steady rhythm of him breathing.

The warmth of his fur on mine.

It’s overwhelming, but it feels *so good.*

”You enjoying this?” He whispers.

”Yeah.” I reply. “I never knew you’d be good to hang out with.”

”ooooooo! They’re in love!” Lynn says. “I could feel it!”

I laugh. “We kind of are, but we’re not going to go to deep just yet. We have to get to know more about each other first.”

”So, what’s your story?” I ask.

”I have a lot to talk about.” He says. “Call Blitz over. I know one of his own.”