HEAVY WARNING FOR:

Uncensored curse words, graphic descriptions of gore and violence, tragic backstories, mentions of suicidal thoughts and attempted rape, and alcohol and drug use

Basically a whole lotta triggering and depressing shite so READ AT YOUR OWN RISK!!!

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3rd Person POV

It was the day Charlie and Vaggie were supposed to be heading to Heaven for the big important meeting but Ayden was worrying about something far more important to her; her first hangout with Via at her house!

"I jus' don't know!" Ayden banged her head down on the counter of the bar before lifting it back up as Husk slid another drink her way.

"Thanks." She quickly thanked him before chugging the strawberry mocktail in a few gulps.

Sighing and dropping her head back down to the counter, she slid the finished glass to the numerous other glasses that Husk frowned at.

"What's there not to get? Your friend just wants to hang out with you at her house." He asked with a shrug as he started to gather all the glasses to clean them.

"Why?!" Ayden lifted her head back up before pushing herself away from the bar to question animated with arm and hand movements, "We always go out, it's what makes it casual! What if this tu'ns into a big deal?!"

"Then it turns into a big deal." Husk stated nonchalantly as he continued to wipe down glasses making Ayden turn to him with a frown and snark,

"I thought ba'tende's were s'posed ta be good at givin' advice?"

"You're the one who's overthinking this." Husk retorted before saying, "Look, you've had a best friend before, right?"

Ayden looked away in mild discomfort before nodding hesitantly so Husk continued,

"And you said you'd go over to her place all the time."

"That was mostly cause I was tryin' ta get away from all the shite at home, this time..." Ayden smiled a little as she admitted, "Yeh I like spendin' time wi'h Via too I jus'..." Her smile fell a bit as she revealed, "I don't wanna drag'er down inta all my crap... and lose he' like I did wi'h Taylo'..."

"Who's Taylor?!" Niffty popped out of nowhere to question, making Ayden and Husk jolt in surprise, before she questioned excitedly, "Is he a ~baaaad booooy?~"

"Shhheee was an old friend o' mine...?" Ayden answered with a questioning eyebrow raise making Niffty's excitement die down in a second flat as she whined,

"AWW-OOH! BUG!" Before her mood changed and she dove into the plant pot by the front door, no doubt to look for the bug she must've heard, leaving Husk and Ayden to talk again,

"Kid if this friend doesn't stick around for the tough times then she's not really a friend."

"I know she will...!" Ayden hiss whispered before continuing, "That's why I don't want he' ta get involved...! Cause I can't stand the thought I might lose anothe' best friend who actually ca'es 'bout me...!"

"You and Angel and you're self-sabotaging I swear..." Husk muttered with his hand on his forehead in mild exasperation before inhaling deeply to enunciate, "You keep trying to push her away to keep her safe without telling her so, she'll start to think you don't want to be around her just because."

"So what shoul' I do?"

Husk finished cleaning the glasses and grabbed a bottle of booze before opening it and telling her as he went to lean against the wall just outside of the bar area,

"You gotta figure out what you really want and what you're willing to give or share for it."

Ayden went silent as she considered Husk's words before she jumped a bit at the front door slamming open to allow Angel to stumble in and sigh tiredly,

"Oh, fuck...!"

Before he was surprised by Niffty popping out from the plant pot to ask him while giggling,

"Hehe! You look messy! What happened to you?"

"It's who happened to me, and the answer is everyone! Twice." Angel griped as he leaned back to crack his back before slumping over enough to let Niffty stand on his back and dust him off, "Val had me working 16 hours straight on a fucking whim. The absolute dickbag. UGH!"

He flopped down on the couch before Ayden walked over and peeked over the back to ask him,

"Want me ta do my thing?"

"Sure..." He answered, slightly muffled from his face being in the cushion.

"Hup!" Ayden vaulted over the back of the couch before quickly shifting to hellcat form to land lightly on four paws on Angel's back before she started kneading and making biscuits on his shoulders as he sighed in some relief before-

*PSH*

The wall exploded in the same spot Pentious had blown up a few months ago making Ayden jolt right up into the air before landing on Angel's head as he sat up in surprise before whining,

"Argh! What the fuck is with that wall?!"

"Serious déjà vu..." Ayden muttered as she hopped down from Angel's head before he lay back down on the couch right before a voice called out from the new hole in the wall,

"WHAT UP HOES? HAHA!"

Revealing the intruder to be Cherri Bomb, exciting Angel and Ayden as they each called out,

"Holy shit! Cherri Bomb?"

"Cherri!"

Ayden shifted back to demon cat form to hop in place excitedly just as Angel stood up to tease,

"Long time no see baby!"

Before Cherri jumped into the room with a lit bomb still in her hand as she told Angel,

"Angie, ya bitch! You've been texting me depressing shit all day! Figured we could tear shit up like old times. It's been fucking forever! Here, hold this. Get over here you little ankle biter!"

The second to last part was directed to Charlie as she tossed the lit bomb to her, leaving her hands free to wrestle with Ayden playfully.

"Ah! Oh my god! Oh my god!" Charlie panicked as she tossed the bomb back and forth in her hands before Vaggie took it with a quick,

"Nope, gimme that."

And she tossed it out the hole in the wall, where it exploded in a spark-filled magenta plume of smoke, as Cherri had managed to trap Ayden in a hug after a small tussle while praising her,

"Shit! Ya got stronger! And here I was worried stayin' at a fun killing place like this woulda made ya soft ya little Slugger!"

"I've been pickin' up some new moves he'e an' the'e!" Ayden grinned brightly at Cherri and she chuckled while ruffling her hair into her face before directing to her and Angel,

"So how 'bout relivin' old times you two?"

Ayden's smile faltered a bit as she told her,

"I've uh.. actually got somethin' wi'h a friend in a li'l bit."

"No fucking way!" Cherri hooked an arm around Ayden's neck and dragged her into another hug as she teased, "Someone got themself a Sheila?"

"She's jus' friend..." Ayden deadpanned, muffled from her position pressed against Cherri's chest, before Angel tried to change the subject as he brought up,

"We love seein' ya Cherri, but she's busy and I'm too tired. I need to pass out..."

Angel was about to fall back onto the couch when Cherri let Ayden go so she could catch him and protest,

"You can sleep when you're double dead, fuckhead! Come on, what you really need is a recharge! A reinvigoration, a re-"

"Responsible night on the town! That is a great idea!" Charlie cut in excitedly as she shook Cherri's hand to greet her, "Hi! Charlie! That's my wall that you just blew up. It's so nice to meet one of Angel's friends! Agh! He never brings anyone around."

"Pft! Wonder why." Cherri scoffed and Ayden added sarcastically,

"Real mystery..."

"Yeah, me too." Charlie spoke obliviously before telling Cherri, "Anyway, Angel and everyone else have been working so hard, I think they deserve to have a little fun."

"W-w-wait, they?" Cherri questioned in disbelief before Charlie waved over to Husk and Niffty, the former looking indifferent to the suggestion and the latter shaking in place faster than a dryer stuck on a rapid spin cycle,

"Yeah! Hi, everyone! Angel and his friend are taking you all out for a night of fun and relaxation!"

"Wait, I'm only here for Ange-" Cherri tries to argue before Charlie places a large stack of money in her hands and she instantly changes her mind to agree loudly, "-Ooh! Never mind, let's GO!"

"Make sure they have the best time tonight!" Charlie told Cherri before turning to Ayden to ask, "Ayden? Think you could maybe try and see if your friend and her family would be willing to help with the hotel in some way?"

Ayden looked a little uncomfortable with the idea as she tried to protest,

"Yeh I don' know... he' mum might no be all that.. willin' ta help us..." A look at Charlie's sad puppy dog eyes made her sigh before saying hesitantly, "But I'll see if she o' he' dad might wanna help..."

"Ahh! Thank you!" Charlie pulled her in a tight hug that made her meow-squeak before releasing her to put a finger to her chin in thought as she wondered, "Anyway, the portal to Heaven should be opening right about..."

*Fwoosh!*

Right on cue, a portal to Heaven opened in the middle of the foyer and Charlie exclaimed in delight,

"OOH! Now!"

Picking up Vaggie, Charlie all but tossed her through the portal before stepping halfway into it as she waved to everyone, "Bye!"

Before fully going through the portal, causing it to vanish, just as Pentious slithered by with a soda cup in his mouth and he noticed Cherri standing there causing him to spit out and drop his drink in shock before monologuing,

"Well! If it isn't my arch-nemesis!" A spotlight shone on him as he struck a dramatic pose, "Have you come to meet your fate in battle, Cherri Bomb?"

But he didn't notice some of Charlie and Vaggie's discarded luggage and ended up tripping over it just as Cherri griped while taking out a piece of gum to toss into her mouth,

"Apparently, I'm going out with Angel and I gotta drag your sorry asses along."

"Oh, oh, you and me are going out like for fun?" Pentious suddenly turned very flustered as he started stuttering awkwardly, "I... I didn't think this would ever happen. What-What do I do? What-What do I wear?"

When he tried to grab Cherri's shoulder in panic, she grabbed and crushed his hand in her grip as she snapped,

"Don't fuckin' touch me, ya munted dickhead."

Before releasing him so she could stomp away and leaving him even more flustered with his face turning bright red at Cherri having touched his hand.

"Don't ev'n think 'bout it... you've prob'bly got a bette' chance o' beatin' Al in a fight than tappin' he'..." Ayden criticized before-

*BVV-VVV!*

Her phone vibrated in her pocket and she checked it to see that Via had texted her that her ride's arrived, sent her a thumbs up, and told the others,

"Looks like my ride is he'e."

"You go get it girl." Cherri teased as she sent her a finger gun point that Ayden returned with a deadpan expression that only deepened when Angel called out,

"Let us know if you end up spendin' the ~niiiight!~"

Before she walked out the door and closed it behind her to keep from hearing all the teasing smooching noises Angel and Cherri were making, her frown turning to a slight smirk as she rolled her eyes once she was out of their sight, and she saw a limo that wasn't Charlie's parked in front of the hotel.

When she opened the back passenger door, she was greeted by a small imp in a suit making her question as she sat down on the opposite side to him,

"Uhh whe'e's Via?"

"The Princess had some last-minute matters to attend to, I've been assigned to escort you to the Goetia Mansion in her stead." He explained in a posh tone.

"So I need a babysi'er outside o' the hotel too, greeeeaaat..." Ayden muttered unenthusiastically as she closed the door behind her and sat moodily with her arms crossed.

"Ahem...! Seatbelt...?" The imp coughed before "suggesting" pointedly and Ayden rolled her eyes before wrapping the seat belt around her and clicking it in place with a "happy?" expression as the limo got going.

On the ride over, Ayden scrolled through Sinstagram, not really paying attention to the posts and reels as she tried not to let her thoughts go back into overdrive over the status of her friendship with Via, feelings torn between wanting to avoid her to protect her and wanting to share everything because she was tired of hiding it all.

'Should I jus' tell'er who I really am....?' She was still thinking to herself, even as the limo pulled up to a large mansion and the imp coughed again to get her attention before announcing in that same snobby tone,

"We've arrived at the Goetia Mansion, do watch your step and mind your manners."

"Of cou'se." Ayden snarked with a mocking slight bow as she undid her seatbelt and got out of the limo so it could pull away as she made her way up the steps to the front door so she could press the doorbell.

*DING-DONG!*

Ears ducking down at the loud, and frankly death toll-like sound, Ayden barely had a second to think 'Crikey that was loud...' before she was suddenly surrounded on all sides by a dark black and red-edged shadow that swirled around her like a vortex before it dissipated to reveal she was somehow instantly teleported inside in a dimly lit library.

"What the...?" Ayden whirled around with her fists raised to try and find whoever or whatever just teleported her in when a voice boomed from nowhere yet everywhere,

"What are your intentions with Princess Octavia?"

"Ta hang out and do whateve' it is no'mal teenage's do?" Ayden answered hesitantly yet honestly as she lowered her fists but kept one clenched at her side, ready to attack at a moment's notice as the voice started speaking again,

"Well be warned... if at any point you bring harm to her, I will not hesitate to rip your soul from your body and-"

"Dad?"

"Oh Via!" The voice lightened up before a clapping sound was heard,

*Tch!* *Tch!*

Just as light spilled into the room from the windows, whose curtains were all opened with magic, revealing that a tall owl demon with four glowing red eyes was the one behind the whole charade as he cleared his throat and questioned sheepishly, "Did you enjoy shopping with your mother?"

"Dad... please tell me you weren't trying to scare her off..." Via facepalmed with the hand that wasn't clutching onto a shopping bag from Stylish Occult.

"'Her?' Oh!" The other owl demon questioned before looking over to Ayden, who gave a small sardonic wave, and giving a small hoot of surprise before saying sheepishly, "The way you talked about this 'Ayden' I had assumed-"

"That I'd be a dude?" Ayden raised an eyebrow in mild amusement with her paws on her hips and her tail flicking behind her as he answered with a half-raised shrug,

"Possibly?"

"Well I admit I'm no lady but I'm not thaaat much like a guy." Ayden shrugged with a joking smirk and Via let out a restrained moan of embarrassment before introducing the two of them to each other,

"Dad, this is Ayden. Ayden, this is my dad."

"Stolas." Stolas dipped his head in greeting, but still kept a wary gaze on Ayden, who noticed and teased,

"Relax, I know when ta keep my claws ta myself."

Stolas laughed a bit unconvincingly before Via rolled her eyes and took Ayden's paw to say,

"We'll be in my room, not doing anything 'improper...'"

Tugging her out of the room, Ayden caught a glimpse of Stolas's disheartened expression before Via told her,

"Sorry about him... I would've gone with to get you but I needed to pick up a few more things."

She smiled toward the end as she held up the bag and Ayden grinned before realizing her paw was still being held and her face heated up a tiny bit but she was saved from any potential embarrassment when Via let go to open the door to her room and welcome her,

"And this is my room."

"Crikey!" Ayden gaped in awe at everything in there; a large canopy bed with starry curtains, a telescope by the large windows, a couch with various pink throw pillows on it, posters of goth bands in Hell on the walls along with shelves of various things like books, taxidermied animals, and magic artifacts.

"Pre'y su'e the lobby o' the hotel could fit in he'e..." Ayden commented in amazement as she spun around to take everything in before running over to the telescope to peek through at the stars they were positioned to see in the sky.

"OK c'mon these hybrid taxidermy kits aren't gonna assemble themselves." Via told her as she started unloading the large boxes of said kits from the bag, not noticing how stiff Ayden went at the word "hybrid" before quickly shaking it off and joining Via where she sat cross-legged on the floor.

"Woah! I di'n't know Stylish Occult sold these!" Ayden picked up one of the kits to see how it advertised already stuffed and prepared Earth animal limbs along with Hellborn animal parts and included things like needles, colored threads, glue, fabric swatches, and clothing templates.

"They're pretty rare but I had them on my wishlist for months so I got priority." Via explained as she laid out the different animal parts in front of her and Ayden did the same as she lightly snarked,

"Lucky break huh Princess."

"Shut up...!" Via retorted playfully before asking as she grabbed the head of a mouse, the body of a ferret, the wings of a bat, and some spikes from a grown hellhog, "What're you gonna make?"

"I'm just gonna throw a buncha random shite togethe' and see what happens." Ayden shrugged energetically as she picked up the mid-sized body of a Hellborn lizard, a handful of porcupine quills, a frog head, and a monkey's tail.

Via chuckled at her chaotic energy as she got back to carefully assembling her hybrid and the two settled into a comfortable silence as they continued working on their individual creations while the "sun" finished setting outside the window.

"You been doin' this kinda thing fer a while?" Ayden questioned in a mildly impressed tone when she noticed how quickly Via got to almost finishing hers as she was already stitching the limbs into place while she was still trying to figure out a position for hers.

"Eh sort of..." Via shrugged as she snipped at the finished knot before turning the limb over it to skillfully hide the seam as she explained, "I've always kinda been interested in how taxidermy preserves the body of something even after the soul's moved on... it freezes time and keeps something alive without it actually being alive anymore... keeps things looking intact when it normally would've fallen apart..."

Noting the downcast tone that she trailed off to towards the end there, Ayden looked up at her to see her frowning as she tapered off working on her creation and grimaced, sensing this was about to go into personal territory so she asked as delicately as she could,

"This 'bout the thing goin' on wi'h yer parents...?"

Via nodded grimly as she sniffed and told her,

"They're... they're getting a divorce..."

"Oh... that's uh...." Ayden tried to think of something comforting to say but came up empty since she never had to deal wiith something as tame as a divorce between her parents so she settled for the next best thing she could think of, "I bet that's b'n ha'd..."

"It has..." Via's eyes welled up a bit but she was quick to try and wipe them away with her sleeve.

"D'ya wanna talk about it...?"

"Not really..."

"OK..." Ayden put a comforting hand on her friend's shoulder as she told her, "Like ya said, 'I'm he'e to listen and help if ya need it...'"

"Thanks..." Via smiled lightly at her and Ayden felt her heart beat a bit deeper so she cleared her throat and asked as she held up the spool of thread and a needle,

"Think ya c'n help me wi'h threadin' this? Broken claws..."

Via chuckled a little when Ayden sheepishly held up her chewed-on claws before she replied,

"Sure."

And she took the needle and, after unraveling and snipping off an appropriate length of thread, threaded it through before knotting it at the end as Ayden watched with fascination and how effortlessly she did it before she remembered,

'Guess I shoul' ask'er if she o' he' dad'd be willin' ta help wi'h the hotel...'

"Hey speakin' o' helpin'," Ayden started to ask as Via handed the needle back to her, "We've been needin' some sponso's at the hotel and we we'e wonderin' if you an' yer family'd be interested in helpin' us out?"

"What...?" Via questioned incredulously, obviously a little taken aback at the blatant change in subject but Ayden continued talking, oblivious to her disbelief,

"I don't really know what you'd be helpin' wi'h I mean we already got Alasto' fixin' stuff wheneve' things get wrecked but Cha'lie asked me ta ask ya if you o' yer dad'd wanna help and-"

But Via cut her off with a frustrated inarticulation,

"No I mean how you-you-urh how can you be this clueless?!"

Abruptly, Via pushed herself to her feet and faced away from Ayden, who winced at that word, with her arms crossed and hunched over slightly.

"Uh what...?" Ayden tried to follow suit but was stopped in her tracks when Via snapped while pointing at her,

"You!" Her tone went from angry to disheartened as she expressed, "I tried to be patient cause I know we've all got different kinds of crap we're working through and sometimes we don't wanna bug people with it," Her tone switched right back to angry annoyance as she pointed out, "but it's been months and you still don't trust me."

"I do trust you!" Ayden tried to argue but she still felt guilt as she tried to cover, "We're jus' dealin' wi'h the Exo'cists and gettin' the hotel ready ta prove it can wo'k and-"

"But what's going on with you...?" Via emphasized as gestured to her as she reasoned, "I know something happened recently and you're getting freaked out by it cause every time I try to ask about you, you just change the subject."

Via stepped forward to put a hand on Ayden's shoulder, wincing when she noticed how she flinched a bit at that move before protesting almost desperately,

"You think I don't notice but I do... I can tell it's hurting you and I just.. I wanna help you..."

In the background, some guitar strums sounded as Ayden bit her lip, thinking about how she was right about that and almost confessed everything but thought against it to shake her head slightly as she told her,

"It's nothing.. you need ta wo'y about.. I c'n handle it..."

But Via's frown just deepened before tinging with sadness as she removed her hand from her shoulder and started to sing while walking away from her and waving a hand dismissively,

♫ No, I think I'll stay in tonight

Skip the conversations and the, oh, I'm fine's

No, I'm no stranger to surprise ♫

Via moved to look out the window at the Pride Ring down below,

♫ This fire town has let me down too many times

Why do I even try?

Give me a reason why ♫

Before she faced Ayden again with a hurt expression,

♫ I thought that I could trust you, nevermind...

Why all the switching sides?

Where do I draw the line?

I guess I'm too naive to read the signs ♫

Some magic glowed around Via's hands as she was able to summon some small lights that looked like stars and made connections between each other to form constellations that blocked the two girls from each other as Via sang while constellations that looked like avian demons gossiping and laughing haughtily to each other appeared around her before being waved away each time they appeared close to her,

♫ I'm just lookin' for some real friends

All they ever do is let me down

Every time I let somebody in

Then I find out what they're all about

I'm just lookin' for some real friends

Wonder where they're all hidin' out

I'm just lookin' for some real friends

Thought I finally found one in you... (Oh, ooh) ♫

Ayden carefully dodged around constellations to try and reach Via as she tried to argue,

"You think I don't want to tell you everything...?!"

"Then why don't you?"

"Cause the last time I got a friend involved in all my shite..." Ayden looked away in guilt before she bit out, "It di'n't end well..."

Via looked worried as Ayden thought back to after Taylor had been killed; when she had been first locked away from the world out of fear for what she had done and she would stare out the locked window at the stars she had hoped to explore with her friend someday, eventually doing the same thing with Hell's version of a night sky when Hannah and her crew kept her before singing,

♫ Used ta stay up, talkin' to the moon (Ooh)

Always felt so alone in 'very crowded room

Coul'n't help but feel like something's wrong, yeh

'Cause the place I'm livin' in

Jus' ba'ely feels like home ♫

But Via wasn't having any of the vague answers Ayden was giving her and just waved her away as she sang while trying to turn away from her again even as she kept dodging the stars to reach her again,

♫ I'm just lookin' for some real friends

All they ever do is let me down

Every time I let somebody in

Then I find out what they're all about

I'm just lookin' for some real friends

Wonder where they're all hidin' out

I'm just lookin' for some real friends

Thought I finally found one in you... ♫

Just as Ayden was about to reach Via, she flicked her hands to face palm down to the ground and the two of them, along with some of Via's things that were strewn around on the floor, were abruptly lifted into the air and hovering there as if they were in space.

♫ (Lookin' for some real friends...) ♫

The two had been drifting apart until Ayden grabbed a hold of the top of Via's canopy bed and launched herself in Via's direction, still having to avoid the constellations shielding her but embers drifted from her paws, adding to the stars as she sang persistently,

♫ Really wanna talk about everythin'

With somebody that means something ta me

Spell the names of all ou' dreams and demons

For the times that I don't unde'staaaand

Tell me what's the point of a moon like this

when I'm alone again?

Really wanna tell ya all that's on my miiiiiiind ♫

Just when Ayden was about to reach Via again as she hit that last long note, she floated just out of reach again and the two wound up swirling around each other as they sang together while looking at each other,

♫ We're just lookin' for some real friends

All they ever do is let us down

Then, we let somebody in

But we find out what they're all about

We're just lookin' for some real friends

All they ever do is let us down

We're just lookin' for some real friends ♫

With a hopeful smile, Via reached out to Ayden again, hoping she'd take her hand this time, and it looked like she was about to, their fingertips lightly brushing each other as the embers around them brightened when-

"Hah...!"

She silently gasped and, from her eyes, Via changed to look like Taylor for a split second before changing to a burnt corpse and it made Ayden wince her eyes shut and retract her clenched paw back to her chest as she finished singing,

♫ Guess I shoul' get outta he'e yeh... ♫

Via frowned sadly again as the two stopped spinning around and levitating, slowly sinking back to the floor, the stars, constellations, and embers fading into the air as the last chords of the song played out before fading to quiet.

After a few silent moments, Ayden opened her eyes back up and was about to head for the door when she paused and asked without fully facing Via,

"Think I coul' jus' go out yer window...?" Hooking a digit back over to the window to admit, "I'd rathe' not run into yer dad right now..."

"Whatever... go ahead..."

Ayden gave a small grateful nod before she went over to the window and opened it to perch on the ledge, about to jump down, when she hesitated to leave her with,

"I really do ca'e... that's why I wanna keep ya away from all.. this..."

Gesturing to herself at the last part, Via rolled her eyes a bit as she snarked,

"Sure it is..."

Ayden frowned sadly at that response before turning back to the window and jumping down, leaving Via to let some tears drip from her eyes, barely bothering to wipe them away this time.

Outside, Ayden had managed to sneak off the Goetia property, thankful she hadn't drawn any attention to herself before she broke down, letting out broken and choked sobs while trying to wipe her tears away with the heel of her paw as the other yanked on her hair.

"*TSF!* Ugh!" Ayden sniffed before scoffing at herself as she wiped her reddening eyes as clean as she could with the front of her tank top.

Once she more or less cleared her eyes, she pulled her phone out and navigated over to her Messages, trying not to let her eyes water up again as she skipped over Via's convo, and found her convo with Angel to text him,

*Hey*

*where'd ya

end up going w

everyone?*

She only had to wait a few seconds before her message was read and the typing bubbles popped up as he replied with,

*We're at this joint

called Consent*

*?*

Ignoring the subtle way he was asking why, Ayden swiped out of the Messages app to go to the Maps to look up the place and figure out a way there before heading there, but the whole time she did she felt herself becoming detached, her body moving like it was on autopilot, her thoughts running around like headless chickens as her physical senses numbed from all the emotions swirling around in her chest and stomach,

'We hafta go back!'

'It's better this way...'

'We c'n tell he'!'

'She needs ta know!'

'I neve' asked ta be bo'n!'

'We neve' shoulda gott'n involved!'

Before she semi-knew it, Ayden was standing right outside the club "Consent" where a bear-like Sinner bouncer was standing at the door to keep the line of demons waiting for entry.

Subconsciously deciding to ignore that, though, she was about to walk right past the bouncer when he held an arm out to block her while saying gruffly,

"We're at limit!"

But Ayden's faint focus didn't so much as shift as she tapped a paw against his suit sleeve and it ignited right underneath causing him to yell and wave his arm around, panicking at the intense burning, allowing her to continue walking into the club as if nothing had happened.

In her wake, onlookers gaped in awed terror after her, minus four shadowy figures in line as their glowing eyes upturned in sinister joy.

Once inside, the mind-pounding music, the overpowering smell of alcohol and sweat, the blinding sporadically flashing lights, it all started to bring Ayden back to focus but she still felt mentally lost so she did what felt most reasonable in that fuzzy state; grabbed a drink from some partying demon and chugged it all down.

"HAH!" Ayden sighed harshly before wiping her mouth once the burning liquid made its way down her throat and she felt the booze settle in her stomach before a warmth spread out throughout her body giving her a calming sensation.

"Oh yeh that's the stuff..." Ayden sighed to herself as she tossed the bottle away and started surveying the crowd looking for the others when-

"Dirty! Dirty!"

Her ears perked up when she heard the familiar crazed tone of Niffty among the cheers and yells of the bar patrons and started walking/stumbling in the direction she heard her and saw her swiping shots from a table with three Sinners as she cheered drunkenly,

"~Make it cleeeaaaan!~"

"Lemme help ya...!" Ayden offered in a happily tipsy tone as she took and downed two shots from the table, drawing protests from the Sinners and a gleeful cheer from Niffty,

"Hey!"

"What the fuck!"

"Denny!"

Niffty was holding up the sack of drinks in Ayden's direction as if showing her her collection so far when Angel ran up and shouted scoldingly,

"Damn it Niffty! And-Ayden?!"

His tone shifted to one of panic when he saw Ayden there even when she grinned with the drunken flush brightening on her face as she cheered,

"Angie!" Picking Niffty up, who was still holding the soggy sack, in a tight hug as she babbled, "We we'e jus' havin' some fun! Right guys?"

Directing the last part to the Sinners but they were looking anything but happy as the leader was standing up threateningly so Angel hurried to appease them, pulling out a wad of cash and tossing it their way with a wink,

"Sorry fellas, here, next one's on me."

Causing the three of them to start fighting over the cash so Angel could turn back to Ayden and Niffty to scold them when he saw they weren't by his side anymore.

"Niffty? Ayden! Shit!"

After looking around a corner he saw the two girls by the janitor's closet where Niffty was looking through the bottles of cleaning liquids while listing them off giddily,

"~Chloriiiiine...! Bleeeeaaaach...!~"

While Ayden was trying to wrestle a bottle out of another bar patron's hands as she argued,

"Nnnno! I's mine!"

Angel panicked and was about to surge forward to stop the both of them when Cherri stepped in front of him and questioned in disbelief,

"Angie, the fuck you doin'? You're supposed to be relaxin', not playing nanny!"

"Look Niffty ain't used to this scene and I don't want Ayden exposed to all this, I-I just don't want'em to end up in the gutter like I used to." He protested worriedly but Cherri just scoffed and waved him away,

"Pft! Whatever nerd, just catch up when you're done!"

Walking away before giving Ayden a pointer,

"Give'im the ol' rear hook, Slugger!"

"Oh yeh!" Ayden spoke with a tone of realization before she ducked down to use her tail to sucker-punch her opponent making him fall backwards unconscious, releasing the bottle so she could cheer,

"WOO!"

Before throwing her head back to chug it until-

*TCH!*

*KRSH!*

"Awww...!"

Angel slapped the bottle out of Ayden's grip and it shattered on the floor with booze still in it that Ayden looked down at sadly as she whined before Angel grabbed her paw and dragged her with him with his lower arms while his upper arms picked up a giggling Niffty interrupting her thievery,

"Hehehehe-REH!"

Before he started to scold them both impatiently,

"STOP! You can't take tha-GOD Niff, Ruby, why're you both bein' such a mess?!"

But the two of them didn't take that very well in their drunk states as both their eyes started welling with tears and Niffty wept before Ayden wailed,

"I'm the mess...? WAAAAAHHHHH!"

"Why're you bein' so meeeeeaaaan! WAAAAAHH!"

Streams of tears flowed out of the both of them along with their loud sobs, panicking Angel as he had to multi-soothe, Ayden with his lower arms and Niffty with his upper arms, patting the both of them on their heads and trying to shush their cries before hugging them both close as he offered,

"Oh... shh shh Hey hey, Hey calm down. It's fine. Shh...! Hey... you wanna play with the kitty?"

"Me....?" Ayden looked up at him with tear-magnified eyes but Angel told her,

"No the other one..."

Both Niffty and Ayden leaned against Angel tiredly before they both answered tearfully,

"Yeah... hichic..."

"Mmmhmmm...!"

Angel smiled warmly at them both before he took them over to where Husk was still sitting, placing Niffty on his head so she could immediately crawl over it and start playing with his eyebrows while Ayden was sat down next to him where she started playing with his wings spreading them out over her before letting go so it could snap back in place on his back and repeating the process as Husk complained,

"The fuck is this?!"

"They're wasted, just go with it." Angel explained before urging him to roll with it, despite the start of some protests that dissolved to begrudging grumbles as Niffty squished his face in her hands and Ayden was still playing with his wing before engaging in a tug-of-war with Niffty for it,

"Really? Ugh, get the..."

"Ha!" Ayden cheered when she managed to wrench Husk's wing away from Niffty, who pouted for a few seconds before switching to yanking on his ears.

"SHHSHH!" Ayden loudly shushed as she pulled Husk's wing over her face like a mask as she babbled in a loud whisper, "D'ya hea' that? Someone's watchin' and judgin' us... They know I'm human...! That I'm a camo-cami-cambion...!"

"Only if you keep announcing it for all of Hell to hear...!" Husk hissed as he tugged his wing out of her grip, leaving a red feather in Ayden's paws.

After staring at it for a few seconds, her eyes welled up again and the feather drifted from her paws as they dropped to her sides before she resumed sobbing like a lost child,

"WAAHHHAHAHAHA!"

"Nonononono! Shhhshhhhshhhh...!" Angel started panicking again before putting a hand on her head and gently scratching right at the bases between her ears making her cries quiet down to cat-like mewls as Husk questioned as best he could from between squished cheeks as Niffty was messing with his face,

"Mwhat's got h-uber so down? Agh...!" Before grabbing Niffty to hold by his side so she could play with his wing just as Pentious asked as he grabbed another drink,

"I thought she was with her little avian companion?"

"So did I." Angel replied with a concerned frown, "Somethin' musta happened..."

"We broke up..." Ayden grumbled as she pulled away from Angel's petting so she could cross her arms and slouch in her seat moodily,

"What?!" Angel, Husk, and Pentious chorused in surprise before Ayden admitted with a head tilt and confused look,

"O' whateve' the best friend ve'sion of a breakup is..."

"Dammit... what did you do...?" Husk questioned and that seemed to set Ayden off as she bolted to a stand with her fur bristling and her tail whipping around agitatedly as she yelled at the others,

"Why'dya 'sume it w's me?! Maybe she needed ta stop bein' so pushy an-!"

*KRSH!*

*PSH!*

Just as she was angrily gesturing with her arms, she failed to notice a bar patron behind her who had some kind of red cocktail in his grip that went flying and tumbling to splash its contents right onto the front of Ayden's top when her paw knocking into his hand before he disappeared into the crowd.

"Shite! Man 's my f'v'rite shi't!" Ayden scowled at the growing dark red stain before hooking a thumb behind her as she did her best to say, "'M gonna-gonna go clean up...!"

"Wait just-" Angel was quick to try and stop her before looking over to the table Cherri was standing by as she was boredly propping her head up in a hand to ask her, "Cherri, can ya take her?"

"She doesn't need a babysitter Angie." Cherri retorted in a disinterested tone while rolling her eye and Ayden threw her arms in her direction as she spoke,

"Thank you! Fin'lly! Som'eone gets it..."

She walked away from the group to find the bathroom, Angel reached a hand out in her direction but pulled back with a worried look just as Pentious distracted him with his sad, drunken attempt to ask Cherri to have sex with him.

Meanwhile, Ayden managed to find the bathroom and was standing in front of one of the sinks with a cracked mirror so she could grab some toilet paper out of a stall with a missing door and started harshly wiping at the stain on her top when she caught sight of her reflection, her eyes still puffy and red-rimmed from crying, sweat was dripping past her quivering whiskers, and her bottom lip was trembling with the threat of more sobs coming out.

"Ugh!" Ayden scoffed to herself again as she planted her paws on either side of the sink that she bent over, taking deep breaths to try and stop the tears from coming again when-

"Ally!"

Her eyes snapped back open and she straightened back up to look into the mirror to see two Hellhounds, a papillon and pomeranian dog breeds, and a Succubus standing right behind her.

"It's been a minute hasn't it?" The papillon Hellhound reached a paw out to place on Ayden's shoulder but she quickly turned around and backed away quickly to avoid the touch as the two groups stared at each other.

"H-Hannah...?" Ayden's voice cracked before her face was squished between Hannah's paws as she cooed condescendingly at her,

"~Still as adorably clueless as ever!~"

But Ayden was quick to try and pull away, only to end up in the grips of the pomeranian Hellhound and succubus, Lucy and Jamie.

"What did you do to your hair?" Jamie pulled at a bang strand of Ayden's hair as she critiqued snobbishly, "If you're going for mop-headed flunk-out punk who can't tell scissors from shears, then you've nailed it."

Ayden barely had a second to protest before she felt Lucy pulling at her tank top as she noted haughtily,

"Still wearing red? We've told you so many times before; it's just not your color."

"And what's this? You don't really need this..." Hannah spoke in a faux concerned tone as she reached for the keychain Angel gave Ayden with her room key clipped onto her shorts.

"RAH!" Ayden wrenched herself away from them with her paws over her ears as she yelled, "Jus' leave me alone!"

Bolting for the door but she barely made it through the doorway when she tripped on something that made her crash to the floor.

"YAH! Oof!"

When she pulled herself to a half sit, half lay position, she saw that it was Jaime, Jamie's incubus twin, who had tripped her with a cocky smirk as he mocked,

"~Watch your steeeeep.~"

Just as Hannah, Lucy, and Jamie exited the bathroom to join him so they could start all walking toward Ayden, who crawled backward on the floor right in the direction of a lounge area where another.. unsavory character was lurking...

Back with the others, Pentious had unintentionally doomed himself to an orgy with almost half the club and Cherri was having a blast as she was trying to convince Angel from where he stood beside Husk, who was still carrying Niffty over his shoulder as she continued playing with his wing,

"You know, we can do this fucking shit every fucking night! You don't have to spend all your off hours 'working on yourself' you little bitch."

"The hotel isn't a problem in his life, it's-" Husk tried to argue before Angel cut in with a muttered,

"Valentino..."

"Exactly! So why don't you-"

"No! Valentino!"

Pointing over to the lounge area where said Overlord was sitting with a harem but his attention wasn't on them...

"~Well weeeell if it isn't the pretty little gatita?~"

He was looking down no doubt at Ayden but the crowd was blocking Angel's view of her as he was about to say,

"And...-?"

"Back off Pimp Lord, she's ours..." Another feminine voice shouted catching Angel's attention as he caught sight of four individuals he only recognized from spoken descriptions from Ayden as he panicked,

"Shit! It's them!"

"Who?" Husk tried to ask but Angel didn't hear him as he heard Val talking with the other girl and his panic rose, making a move to run over,

"I gotta get her outta there...!"

"Bad boys!"

"Niffty no!"

But was too late to stop Niffty from wriggling free from Husk's grip to start running off toward Val and Jaime so he ran after her, pushing through the still-partying-despite-the-growing-drama crowd,

"Excuse me! Pardon me! Get out of my way!"

Luckily, Ayden saw Niffty coming and managed to grab her before she got any closer to the two men she was going for even as Hannah bent down to try and command,

"You've had your fun this past year Ally, put the bug down, it's time to go home..."

Ayden just ducked her head down as she squeezed Niffty tighter when Hannah reached down to grab her before a pink-gloved hand smacked hers away as Angel reached them and stood between Hannah and Ayden to demand,

"Get the fuck away from her!"

Ayden barely looked up from her curled-up position once she heard Angel's voice before ducking back down as Hannah drew out suggestively before saying condescendingly,

"~Ohhh~ I see... Found someone better to-"

"Shut it!" Angel cut her off before she could say anything more before jabbing a finger in her direction to threaten protectively, "If you four ever come near Ayden again I will end you for all the pain you ever caused her..."

"Oh yeah?" Hannah challenged leaning closer to Angel who didn't flinch and returned in the same protective manner while his irises in all his eyes glowed bright magenta in silent fury,

"Yeah..."

The two stayed in their glaring stances before Hannah rolled her eyes and scoffed,

"Whatever Porn Pest, we've done enough today, it's only a matter of time now..."

She waved for her friends to follow her out of the club and Angel relaxed only marginally as he turned back to Ayden to check on her,

"You OK...?"

Ayden not getting a chance to answer before-

"~Bravo Angel Baby!~" Val spoke up from where he had stayed quiet watching the whole scene, thinking that Angel was dealing with Hannah and her friends for him evident from the way he spoke next in faux gratitude, "Competition is always so maldito but I'm sure after some discipline the little kitten'll be an ~amaaaazing coworker...~"

"Fuck off, Val..." He muttered as he helped Ayden off the ground and took Niffty from her so she was free to hug him.

"Excuse me?!" Val questioned incredulously as he frowned and glared at him.

"I said fuck off!" He spoke up and the crowd around finally quieted down to watch this scene unfold as Angel stood up to Val, getting right in his face to assert, "I may have to put up with your bullshit, but you ain't fucking with any of my friends, especially Ayden!"

"Did you forget who you're talking to?" Val stood up to tower over Angel before using his smoke to summon his chain on Angel to remind him as he pulled him to his knees before him, "I own you, bitch..."

"Yeah, you do," Angel submitted to that information before clarifying defiantly, "in the studio, and you can do anything you want to me there, just like our deal says." He got right in Val's face again to proclaim boldly, "But out here, I get to do what I want." Angel pulled away as far as the chain would allow him to declare, "So once again, FUCK. OFF!"

*PSH!*

"Agh!"

Val backhanded Angel and sent him crashing to the ground with blood dripping from his nose, dropping Niffty in the process and half landing on Ayden as she stayed cowering on the ground with her face buried in her arms before Val walked back over to him as he threatened menacingly with red drip lines appearing in the corner of his mouth,

"Enjoy the rest of your night, bitch, because I'm going to enjoy making you pay for it tomorrow and you can struggle to rest tonight knowing you can't protect that little runt forever..."

A little ways away, Cherri and Husk were standing ready to fight back if necessary with Husk snarling with his teeth bared while Cherri stood slightly behind him seething,

"Fucking dickhead..."

But Angel picked himself and Ayden up and stated while wiping the blood from his nose before walking away with Ayden by his side,

"Fuck it! It was worth it...."

"Way to go, kid." Husk praised Angel as he put a hand on his back to walk with him while checking over Ayden to make sure she was OK too.

As Val glared at them walking away, he didn't notice a needle-like limb reaching up to rip a piece of his collar fur out before exclaiming,

"OW! What the fuck?!"

Before looking disturbed as Niffty cackled,

"HAHAHA! For my collection! NYEHEHEHE! HAAH! Wait up, guys!"

Waving to the others before hopping off of Val's shoulder to catch up with them just as Cherri was noting to Angel,

"Did you just call these cunts your friends? Thought that was our job."

She gave a gentle hair ruffle to Ayden, who was still rattled by everything that had just happened, so Angel told her earnestly,

"There's room for everyone, and you know... you could come crash with us too."

But she had a different idea as she protested good-heartedly,

"Ok, look, Angie, I'm glad this hotel shit is working out for you and Ayden, but you know me, bitch, I'm doing just fine! In fact, I'm gonna fuck the next guy I see! OK?"

Walking off to find someone before turning back for a quick second to tell them both,

"But if either of you need me, for anything, you know where to find me, yeah?"

She walked off just as Pentious appeared, panting tiredly as he asked almost desperately,

"Is Cherri still here?"

Angel and Husk hooking a thumb in her direction as she was leading another Sinner to a sex room with the door slamming behind them causing Pentious to yell frustratedly,

"Dammit!"

Angel gave him a raised brow of disbelief before he felt Ayden hugging his arm tighter as she borderline begged,

"Can we please jus' go home...?"

Angel's face softened before he turned to the others to ask,

"I feel like we've had enough excitement for one night. You guys?"

"I've been ready to go..." Husk spoke in a half-bored, half-amused tone.

"I require rest... and lots of ice..." Pentious added as he slumped over tiredly.

"Hehehehehe..." Niffty wasn't even paying attention as she rubbed Val's bit of fur against her face while chuckling morbidly.

"Let's go then..." Angel announced as they all walked out of the club.

They all called a taxi that took them back to the hotel in record time, thanks to the complete disregard of road rules even for Hell, and were walking through the lobby to head up to their rooms when-

*Fwoosh!*

"-oooooo!"

"-ckeeeer!"

Charlie and Vaggie were spit out of a portal similar to the one that had opened up for them to Heaven earlier that day, the both of them crashing to the floor as the portal disappeared.

"Charlie?!" Vaggie bolted up and immediately went over to make sure Charlie was OK as she questioned while reaching down to her, "Are you-?!"

But Charlie rapidly pulled away from her reach with her eyes widened in fear as she backed away from Vaggie, even as she tried to beg desperately,

"Charlie...?"

Before she bolted up the stairs, the sound of a door slamming was vaguely heard as Vaggie sighed while putting her hands to her face in sorrow.

"OK whatever just happened?" Angel spoke up drawing everyone's attention to him as he suggested, "Can it wait til tomorrow?"

"Yeah..." Vaggie surprisingly agreed with his idea, mildly shocking everyone as she devised, "Tomorrow morning I'll... I'll tell you all everything that happened..."

Noting the somber tone Vaggie was using, everyone looked at each other worriedly before they each headed to their rooms to get some rest, Angel leading Ayden all the way to her room.

"Alright get some sleep and I'll-" Angel tried to leave when Ayden clutched onto his arms tighter as she nearly exclaimed,

"Please stay...!" Burrowing her head closer as she admitted, "I don't wanna be alone right now..."

Angel felt a small painful pang in his chest hearing how frightened she was so he nodded and told her gently,

"OK Fuzzball..."

Moving carefully to sit on Ayden's bed leaning against the headboard with Ayden half-sitting on his lap with her head against his shoulder and still hugging his left arms while his right arms scratched gently between her ears again and rubbed her arm comfortingly.

They sat in silence for a few minutes before Ayden whispered tearfully,

"I don't wanna go back the'e..."

"And you never will.." Angel asserted gently before tightening his grip just a bit as he swore, "I promise... they will never get a hold of you and I won't let them hurt you anymore as long as I'm around..."

Ayden made a little noise of overwhelmed emotions and Angel let his hand hold her head closer before remembering a song she once told him was one of her favorites from her time as a "full-human" before "the change" and started to sing quietly,

♫ I always thought I might be bad

Now I'm sure that it's true

'cause I think you're so good

And I'm nothing like y-you... ♫

His voice hitched a bit at the end of the line when he realized she was falling asleep and purring softly, another sign of just how much she trusted him and felt safe in his presence, as he continued singing while smiling softly down at her,

♫ Look at you go

I just adore you

I wish that I knew

What makes you think I'm so special... ♫

His eyelids started to feel heavier by the second as he finished singing,

♫ If I could begin to do

Something that does right by you

I would do about anything

I would even learn how to love... ♫

Before he trailed off as he fell asleep, the two of them never loosening their embrace once the rest of the night through...

AN- Woo! Managed to finish this today (granted a lot later in the day than usual, sorry ^^; )! What a way to celebrate Ayden's belated birthday (yesterday April 13th) along with two weeks later Angel's birthday and National Siblings Day back on the 10th... with a mix of revisiting trauma and found family fluffiness...

Some notes and references for this one:

The song duet for Ayden and Via is Camila Cabello's "Real Friends" with some slight lyric tweaking and the imagined song tone being a bit less pop and more punk and goth to match their aesthetics for each part they sing

The song that Angel sings to Ayden at the end (on the very off chance you don't already know it) is Rebecca Sugar's "Love Like You" from Steven Universe since a) the song can be interpreted for different types of love, in this case, found familial love between Ayden and Angel, and b) I see Ayden as being a fan of Steven Universe for the heartfelt elements mixed in with the comedy with her favorite character being Amethyst

Fun little tidbit; I imagine Adam's list of "Redeemable Qualities" including "Protecc kids from bullies" to add in that little scene of Angel defending Ayden from Hannah and her friends to the list of why he can be redeemed for the trial up in Heaven ^^

Since I only barely managed to finish this chapter for today, I'm not really sure I'll be posting "Hello Rosie" on time next week ^^;

Anybody else slowly losing their mind at the thought that Helluva Boss's "Full Moon" episode might be posted on the 23rd, the actual full moon date next week?

Until the next one, Bye!