Chapter Text
Loona burst into her bedroom, carrying two large brown paper grocery bags in her arms, and kicked the door closed with her heel.
This made Storm, who was sitting on her bed; I.e the mattress, pillow and blankets that served as her bed, that was pushed against the wall opposite Loona’s bed, almost jump out of her fur.
With a huff, Loona roughly dropped both bags in front of Storm
“Here” she announced.
Storm, with a bemused expression, simply…blinked.
Loona, now standing straight and with a hand on her hip, gestured to the bag
“They’re or you dumbass!”
“Wait, what?”
Storm gingerly peeked inside the bag and began rooting through what was inside, occasionally taking out an item to get a better look; a body wash, shampoo and conditioner; two different brushes for her fur, on for the shorter fur covering her body and one for her thick black head fur, from a specialty Hellhound care store!
“Loona…No, you shouldn’t have…”
But the other hound waved her off
“Look, if we keep on sharing stuff then it’ll just run out faster, it makes more sense for you to have your own shit, right?” she reasoned bluntly.
While she couldn’t dispute Loona’s reasoning, Storm hesitated
“I- well yeah but…you bought all this stuff for me? How much did-” she questioned
Loona sighed, sitting heavily on her bed and started lighting a cigarette
“Look, it’s not a big deal; Blitzo gives me an allowance so I can buy my own stuff whenever I need it; most of this was two for one on stuff I was already buying anyway” she replied.
“The clothes…well, everybody needs clothes, right?” she added in an off-hand manner,
Storm’s eyes widened slightly and she dove back into the bag
“Wait, there are clothes in here!” she blurted out.
She’d been so caught off guard by the care products that she’d not even thought about the bundle of fabric at the bottom of the bag!
“Loona, how much did this cost? I can’t…”
But Loona, already feeling awkward about the whole situation, crossed her arms, looking away
“Well tough shit, I can’t return them and they won’t fit me.”
Knowing getting mad wasn't going to help, Loona pinched the bridge of her nose and evened her tone a little but remained firm
“Just…just take ‘em already, ok? Blitz took Stolas out to get him some more stuff while you guys stay here, I figured you should have some stuff too.”
Touched by the gesture, Storm smiled, her tail wagging with happiness for the first time since she and Stolas had begun staying with Blitz and Loona.
“ Loona, thank you. I- I can’t tell you what this means to me..”
Again, Loona waved her off
“Whatever, just go try them on; I can’t return them on.
Storm ears pricked up
“Oh, right, right!”
Gathering the armfull of clothes from the bag she darted past her ‘roommate’. Rolling her eyes, Loona threw her legs up to rest her feet on her bed as she laid down, cigarette still held between her index and middle finger.
Once Storm was out of sight, a small smile crept to Loona’s lips. She’d never had a sibling, or anything akin to one, but if said sibling were anything like Storm, she wouldn’t complain, much, at least. Loona was no stranger to rejection; failed adoptions mostly, having had two homes previous to Blitzo, so she felt a certain amount of sympathy, or at least understanding for the younger hound. Not only had Storm lost the sense of security and a certain amount of luxury being the Hellhound to a Goitia family provided, with the manor being the only home Storm had known since being adopted as a kid, but Octavia had also broken up with her and essentially sent her away along with Stolas.
Stolas might have adopted Storm legally and on paper, but deep down, she was Octavia’s; in every sense of the word. Loona couldn’t imagine losing all of that all in one day.
Just as Loona took another drag from her cigarette, Storm re-entered the room, wearing the new outfit Loona had picked up for her.
Tail swishing once behind her, Storm struck a pose
“What do you think, can I pull it off?” she beamed.
In place of her previous attire, she now wore a pair of black torn jeans with a baggy red t-shirt that had a crossbones graphic on the front, in place of a skull however was a large paw print. The t-shirt hung loosely off one shoulder to show the strap of the black and white striped vest she wore underneath.
Loona swung her legs over the edge of the bed to sit up
“Nice.” she complimented, flicking her cigarette out of the open window.
“Loona…”
Storm stepped closer, suddenly looking nervous
“Thank you. I…really appreciate it; not just the clothes and stuff but…”
She gave the hem of her new shirt a small tug as she continued
“You know, letting me share your room while Stolas and I stay here. I grew up in a hellhound orphanage so I get that sharing a space sucks.”
Loona shrugged
“Look, you guys are going through a rough time, and…Blitzo was there for me when I needed him; I guess…I kind of wanted to do the same or some shit, I-I don’t know” she rambled, tucking some of her grey hair behind her torn ear.
The expression of gratitude on Storm's face began to make Loona uncomfortable so, in order to divert the conversation she grabbed something else from one of the bags
Storm’s expression became concerned
“Not more clothes, Loona-”
But Loona shook her head
“Nah. This is…I don’t know. Since we're sharing a room for, Satan knows how long, I wanted you to have at least something to make it feel a little more like home.”
Watching Loona open out the badly folded material, Storm was in awe.
It was a large piece of sheer material decorated with moons and stars; the dominant theme of the Goitia mansion, before Stolas’ banishment.
Carefully soothing a section of the material between her thumb and index finger, Storm felt her heart begin to ach
“It…it reminds me of Via’s room back…back home” she whispered, her voice cracking with emotion and tears stinging the corners of her eyes.
Loona’s expression fell, her ears flattening against her head
“Oh, right, er…sorry, I can-”
Before she can finish her sentence, Loona was grabbed into a tight hug; similar to how Octavia had grabbed her when Loona had found her during the debacle in human world L.A some time ago.
“Thank you”
Loona patted her on the back
“Hey, it’s cool…Blitz might be a walking disaster but you and Stolas…well you’re one of us now.” she insisted.
Storm squeezed the older hound tighter for a moment
That evening Bliz kicked out the apartment door hard enough for it to slam into the wall behind it, cracking the drywall, a bag hung from the crook of each arm while his arms precariously clutched several more bulging bags of ill gotten gains
“HAHA what haul, huh Stols? You’re going to love all the cool shit I got for ya while you were getting us coffee!”
Moving so that Stolas could follow him inside, Blitz beamed up at his lanky lover, who tentatively entered behind the imp, carrying two take-out coffee cups
“Yes, well, I’m still acclimatising myself to your ‘grab it and run’ style of shopping, Blitz but I must admit it is somewhat thrilling, if not rather...illegal” Stolas answered playfully.
Standing proudly on the sofa, Blitzo opened his arms, letting his ‘purchases’ clatter to the floor with a force that threatened the sturdiness of the apartment's flooring.
A series of bang quickly followed from the apartment below
“SHUT THE FUCK UP!
In return, Blitz leapt from the couch to the floor, his landing hard and purposeful before stomping his foot a few times for good measure
“OH CAN IT, DICKHEAD!” he hollered back.
His already irate downstairs neighbour bellowed a retort
“I SAID SHUT IT OR I'LL R I’LL COME UP THERE AND TEAR YOU A NEW ASSHOLE, ASSHOLE!”
Seeing Stola's unnerved demeanour Blitzo made a loud taunting sound but did not continue the argument, instead addressing Stolas
“Old Garth, always threatening me with a good time; still hasn’t delivered the goods though” he joked.
Stolas giggled
“Oh, am I going to have to fight your neighbours for your affections now, Blitzy?” he teased, sauntering towards the imp.
Blitzo crawled up the length of Stola's body, feeling the former Goitia’s delectate hands move to support his weight immediately.
Blitz let his tail wind around Stola’s impossibly thin waist with a mocking cackle
“He wishes, birdy”
The pair stared heatedly at each other for a few seconds, only for a series of loud, sharp bangs to startle them, especially Stolas who accidentally retracted his hands from supporting Blitz’s rear, meaning the Imp plummeted to the floor with a cry of
‘Oh shit!”
He then promptly landed in a heap on the floor.
More banging, this time from the apartment below again
“Fucks sake imp, can it will ya!?” Shouted Garth..
Annoyed from being dropped, and that he and Stolas had been interrupted, AND by Garth yelling, Blitz plucked a shot-gun from inside his jacket, he kicked the sofa out of the way to reveal a large hole in the floorboards, he then aimed the barrel of the gun and shot; causing a spray of blood to splatter over him as Stolas watched in horror.
“Dick.” Blitz insulted the now very dead Garth as he tossed aside the shotgun.
“Wonder what he noise was-”
There it was again.
“Is that hammering?” he realized.
Stolas, still coming to terms with the fact that Blitz had just shot the brains out of their downstairs neighbours, answered
“I, um, believe it’s coming from your daughter's bedroom.”
He was about to stare down the hole and into the apartment below to see what carnage Blitz had caused, only for the imp to kick the couch back into place to cover said hole from sight
“Well let’s go see what Loonie and Storm are up to!”
After knocking on Loonas’ bedroom door, he heard Loona call back
“Yo”
From previous experience, Blitz took this to mean he could go in and opened the door, with Stolas peeking his head around the door over the top of Blitz’s head
“We just wanted to know what that noise….was…” The former prince's voice trailed off as he took in the sight.
Loona was sitting on her bed, flicking through the latest issue of Hellhound Monthly, while Storm, her black hair/head fur pulled up in a thick, shaggy ponytail, and with headphones tucked into her ears with music playing on her phone, stood on tip toe, hammering nails into the wall in order to hang the star and moon patterned material Loona had gifted her. The hem hung in a W shape from where the edge of the wall met the ceiling, letting the material drape down the length of the wall beside the mattress that served as Storm's bed currently.
Seeing Stolas about to well up, as the stars and moons reminding him of Via, Blitzo urged him from the room before noticing the bags on the floor and Storms new clothes; although he hid it behind his usual overconfidence and crude humor, Blitz was struggling with two more people living in the apartment, but he dared not let Stolas know the extent of it; the bird demon was guilt ridden and fragile enough emotionally right now! But upon realizing what Loona must have done, Blitzo smiled at his adopted daughter
“Good job Loonie-Toonie” he said appreciatively.
Loona grumbled
“Whatever”
But she made sure to throw Blitz a thumbs up under the back cover of her magazine.
Things might have been cramped, overcrowded and a financial nightmare, but they would manage. Somehow.