Chapter Text
"Fucking damn it!"
Loona tucks the bottle under her arm and tears the plastic off the pack of cigarettes. Two angels drop from the sky across the street and ram spears into a sinner attempting to run. They look up and stare at Loona with their glowing cheshire masks. Loona flips them off and walks down the sidewalk.
The lighter takes a few tries and she grows more annoyed with each flame that sputters out. Execution Day, the time of the year where all hellborn can get together around the windows and watch the forces of Heaven slaughter the souls of sinning mortals. Loona sidesteps around a sinner, some glowing fish creature made into a pincushion.
Her phone buzzes. She ignores it and taps ash onto a pile of bodies. It buzzes again. She doesn’t need to look. Blitz, no doubt frantically tapping messages to her. She’d get an earful later which, of course, she’ll ignore.
Something red and wet slams into the pavement in front of her. A sinner, that may have been female, shivers on the ground. She grab’s Loona’s leg, trying to speak, blood dribbling from her mouth.
“Get the fuck off me.” Loona kicks her hand off and steps over her. The office is a few blocks away. Something whistles past her ear and sticks into the mangled corpse behind her. Loona hears a whistle and glances up.
Three angels smile down at her. One of them waves. Loona takes a long drag, then flicks the cigarette aside.
“Fuck you looking at?”
A spear slams into the bricks next to her head, embedding into the side of the building. She turns and sees her widening eyes in the metal shaft. She bares her teeth and turns back to them.
“Hey, dipshit! You’re not supposed to throw them at me!”
Their digital grins widen. Loona feels her stomach drop. The bag slips through her fingers and falls to the ground. Glass shatters. One of the angels turns towards the others.
“First one to nail the furry bitch wins.”
Loona doesn’t understand. This isn’t supposed to happen. She stands, numb, watching them rear back their spears and take aim.
Something snaps inside her and Loona throws herself to the side as three spears land where she stood. She scrambles up and runs on all fours down the street. Her heart pounds in her ears. Another spear bounces off the side of building behind her, ringing out into the street. They're right behind her, she can feel it. At any second, they’ll grab her and tear her throat out. She thinks she feels fingers brush her hair. Loona yelps and runs faster.
***
They watch the hellhound scamper away.
“Holy shit, Tabitha. You suck.”
Tabitha turns to Ruth. “I’m sorry. Maybe you want to show us how it’s done? Oh wait, that’s right, you missed too.”
“She’s getting away,” Jane says in a whining tone.
“Bullshit she is.” Tabitha pushes them aside and picks up a spear. She sees the hellhound bitch receding into the distance. An easy shot. She rears her arm back.
"May I ask what the fuck you three are doing?"
Tabitha freezes at the familiar raspy voice. She groans and lowers the spear to her side. Lute stands behind them, arms crossed. Blood drips off her uniform into a pool forming at her feet. Tabitha spreads her arms and gestures at the hellish cityscape.
"Our job, obviously."
Lute walks to her, parting the other angels. She snatches the spear from Tabitha’s hand and leans close.
"I didn't realize your job was measuring dicks, Tabitha."
Tabitha huffs. "And I didn't realize this was your quadrant, Lute."
“Watch your mouth, rookie.” Lute pushes her aside and stares off the side of the roof. "My quadrant is clear because unlike you, I don't fuck around on the job."
"Bitch," Tabitha whispers, eliciting gasps from the angels beside her.
Lute files the comment away for her report and stares out over the street. She studies each desecrated corpse, noting their sloppy spearwork. They fall on the receding figure of Loona. Lute gasps. She feels their eyes on her back. Lute composes herself and slowly turns.
“A hellhound? You were trying to kill a hellhound?”
The bravado fades from Tabitha’s face and her shoulders fall. She averts her eyes.
“I didn’t know. Some sinners look like that.” She glances back at Lute and not seeing any reaction, weakly adds: “They have fur too.”
“Your helmet has a fucking scanner built in,” Lute says. She jabs a finger into Tabitha’s chest. “Hellhounds are off limits. How fucking braindead do you have to be to make one target practice?”
“Who cares? Hellborn kill each other all the time, what’s one-”
Lute’s hand snakes forward and squeezes Tabitha’s throat.
“Off limits means off limits. With this little stunt, you’ve jeopardized future purges, therefore you jeopardized Heaven’s security.” Lute throws her to the ground. Tabitha pushes herself up, wheezing and holding her throat. Lute looks to the other two angels.
“Spread out. I want this quadrant empty by the time the purge is over."
“But…” Jane starts in a weak voice, “that’s in fifteen minutes.”
"If you ever want to pick up a spear again, then you'd better start fucking moving," Lute growls. She looks down at Tabitha. “You head back. Be outside my office when I get there. We’re going to have a long talk.
They exchange worried glances and stretch their wings. Tabitha crawls to her feet, looking back at Lute as if expecting a swift kick. They leap into the sky and scatter into the city. Seconds later, screams follow and Lute nods, satisfied.
She stares at the street where she saw Loona running. She squeezes the spear, rubbing her finger over the polished metal. Under her mask, unseen, she bites her lip.
“Fuck it,” she whispers.
***
Loona cuts left down the alley and collides with a trash can. She snarls and throws it aside. It’s a thin alley, home only to trashcans, graffiti, and side doors. She runs to one and tries the handle. Locked. She curses and runs to another. The handle doesn’t budge. Her heart pounds. They’re going to be on her any second.
“Fuck this.” She throws her shoulder into the door. Something cracks. Loona braces herself and throws her full weight against the door. It pops open, the rusty hinges squeal as it swings. She slams the door and looks around, panting.
It's a storage closet, filled with empty, dusty shelves. The only door is the one behind her.
"F-fuck," Loona whispers and slides down to the floor. She pulls her legs close and buries her face in them.
"Stupid...so fucking stupid."
It was supposed to be a quick walk to the store. Blitz told her to be quick about it. She forgot what day it was but it shouldn’t have mattered. Hellborn are exempt from purges. She had learned that back when she was five. What changed?
Loona pulls out her phone. One hundred nineteen new messages and fifty six missed calls. All from Blitz. She sighs and scrolls through the texts. Each becomes more frantic. She taps on the screen and begins typing.
Something lands in the alley outside.
Loona gasps and scurries away from the door into a corner. She presses the phone to her chest, hoping to cover the sound of her pounding heart. Heels click down the alleyway. Loona looks around for something, anything that could be a weapon.
The footsteps stop. She sees the silhouette from the crack underneath. Loona takes a breath to steady herself and crouches down. She bares her fangs.
If those angel bitches want her this badly, they’re going to have a fight on their hands.
The door swings open with squealing hinges. An angel stands in the doorway, silhouetted from the light outside. The light of her mask shines into the dusty room. Loona snarls, her fur on end. The angel freezes, the stern expression faltering. She looks down at the spear she’s holding, then back to Loona.
“Stand down, demon. I’m not here to hurt you.
"FUCK OFF! Take one more fucking step and I’ll rip your fucking foreskin off!"
“You’re going to...what?” She shakes off the strange threat and throws the door closed. Loona tenses and growls louder. Her muscles are tense, ready to spring forward. Lute stares down at her, inspecting, her halo casting the room in a dim light.
“Did they hurt you?”
“The fuck do you care? Leave me alone!”
“Those angels back there,” Lute gestures behind her, “they acted against the rules by attacking you. I assure you they will be severely punished.”
“Good to know,” Loona says. “Now leave.”
“Not until I’ve verified that you haven’t sustained any damage. I cannot risk a hellborn dying on my watch and breaking the pact we have with your monarch.”
“I’m fine! See? Now what part of ‘fuck off’ do you not understand?”
Lute cranes her head and inspects the floor for fresh blood, and seeing none, inspects Loona’s body again. She doesn’t appear bothered by the snarling hell beast in front of her.
“Good. If those recruits had harmed you, they wouldn’t be picking up a spear for the rest of their afterlives.” Lute looks off to the side. Loona sees the digital face bite its lip. There’s something off about the angel in front of her, a nervous energy barely restrained.
“Okay? I’m good, right? I can leave?”
Lute closes her eyes and sighs. “Just another minute. I need to talk to you about something.”
“If you’re going to fucking kill me, just do it,” Loona says. “The last thing I want to be talked to death.”
“Loona, if I was going to kill you, I would’ve-" Lute claps a hand over her mouth. Loona's eyes widen.
"How the FUCK do you know my name?"
"Brilliant," Lute mutters. "Okay, look I can explain."
“I don’t think you can," Loona says through gritted teeth. “Now get out of my fucking way.”
Lute holds up a hand. “Just ten minutes. Give me ten minutes and I’ll let you go.”
Loona stares at her, still hunched down, fangs bared. Lute looks at her spear, hesitates, then tosses it aside. It bounces off the concrete floor with a metallic clang and slides into a corner. Lute sits, legs crossed. She holds out her empty hands.
"I've got no weapon and I'm sitting. I’m completely vulnerable." Loona glances at the thrown spear and back to the weaponless angel. Lute makes an exasperated sound. “Do you know how much fucking trouble I can get into by doing this?”
Loona pulls her legs up and matches Lute’s sitting posture. She doesn’t break eye contact and holds up her phone. On it is a timer with ‘10:00’. She presses start and the number tick down.
"Start talking."
Lute straightens up. “The purges happen one day a year. Do you ever wonder what we do for the other days?”
“No.”
“Some of us go back to regular lives. Others, like me, are full time. So we’re given missions to attend to. Some in Heaven, some on Earth.”
Lute waits for some sort of response and after receiving none, resumes.
“Six months ago, I was given a job. I was to track down a group of imps that were gaining access to Earth through the means of ancient magic and indiscriminately killing mortals. Sound familiar?”
“Fuck,” Loona says.
“Thought so. My job was to locate you, determine your threat level, and eliminate you, if necessary.” Lute clenches her fist to emphasize the point.
“Why the hell does Heaven care?”
"Why does Heaven care? Oh, let me think.” Lute looks up, finger on her chin. “Three, sometimes four, demons wandering the earth, brazenly killing mortals? Beats me."
“There’s a bunch of fucking hellborn on Earth,” Loona says. “Why don’t you track them down?”
“Don’t think they get a pass,” Lute says, sneering. “We barely tolerate their presence as it is. Unlike them, however, your merry band lacks any sort of subtlety. You run around, cause mass chaos, all without any kind of disguise. It’s as if you want to be caught.”
“That explains how you know my fucking name,” Loona says. “Why are you telling me this?”
"Let me finish." Lute adjusts her sitting position. Loona notices a flash of reluctance in her expression. “I got to work following your group’s misadventures, taking notes about your capabilities." Her eyes narrow. “Or lack thereof.”
Loona flips her off.
“Cute,” Lute says. “I figured that it would take a week, max. I’d put in my report to have you eliminated and come back to finish the job. But something stopped me. I extended it by a week. Then another…” Lute looks away. “Weeks turned to months.”
Loona cocks her head. The angel’s demeanor changed. Her breathing is heavier and her steely tone doesn’t seem as sure.
“I finally made myself an ultimatum. I was going to put in my final report and eliminate you, hell or high water. Nothing was going to stop me. I-I went to my boss and I…I couldn’t.”
Loona leans forward. "You couldn't...what? Spit it out."
“I couldn’t fucking do it,” Lute says, her digital expression blushing. “What part of that is so fucking hard for you, demon? I made the recommendation that your group didn’t pose a threat. I spared you. There, I fucking said it.” Lute turns to face the wall and places her face in her hands. Loona leans back and looks the angel over. She seems to have shrunk, possessing none of the coolness she started with. Finally, she breaks the silence.
“Why?”
“Why what?” Lute mutters.
“Fucking why did you spare us? We’re demons. We kill humans for money. Since when do angels have mercy on us?”
“Every purge cycle,” Lute mutters. “If I had it my way, we wouldn’t be-”
“Don’t fucking change the subject. Why did you spare us?”
The yellow blush on Lute’s mask deepens. It takes her considerable effort to look up at Loona. “Are you really going to make me say it?"
"Uh, yeah." Loona says. “You wanted to talk to me so fucking badly and I don’t think giving me heads up that you’ve been stalking me was the only thing you wanted to say. Unless you’re fishing for a ‘thanks’, in which case, fuck off.”
Lute’s face glows yellow and she stares at the floor. Her hands can’t keep still.
“I...couldn’t…I-I couldn’t…” Her voice trails off.
“Spit it out!”
Lute sits up, her hands clenched. “I couldn’t hurt you!”
Lute’s words hang in the air. She turns away from Loona and crosses her arms, her face glowing bright yellow. Loona heard her words. On a subconscious level, she understands their meaning but she can’t fathom why they were said.
“You couldn’t hurt me? What are you talking about?”
“Damn it,” Lute whispers, pulling her legs into her chest. “Damn it to hell.”
“Hey!” Loona snaps her fingers in Lute’s face. “Don’t fucking shut down on me. What did you mean by that? Cause it sounds like-”
"I fell in love." Lute mutters. “With you. A hellhound of all things.”
"You-" Loona stares at the angel sitting in front of her, her mouth falling open. Lute turns and they stare at each other.
"What?" Loona’s voice cracks. Lute buries her head into her legs again. Her shoulders sag.
"I know,” Lute says. “It’s stupid and shameful and a complete betrayal of everything I hold sacred. If...if I could find the poison inside of me that’s making me feel like this, I would-”
"WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?" Lute jolts up as Loona leaps to her feet.
"Loona, calm down. I didn’t-"
"FUCK THAT! WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK?!"
“I can explain." Lute glances back at the door. “Just give me a chance.”
Loona stares down at Lute and snarls. "I don't think you can, bitch. You angel fucks come down here every year just to slaughter sinners and today, your little shit eating friends thought it would be funny to use me as fucking target practice. I almost died!"
Lute’s eyes harden as she stares back up at Loona.
“I told you that wasn’t supposed to happen. They weren’t-
“But they fucking did. You think just because you corner me here and confess to me, after stalking me for what, six months? You think that makes it all okay?"
"No." Lute says, looking down. "I didn't want to do it like this."
Loona laughs. "How did you want to do it? Corner me in the human world? Pay a visit to the office?"
Lute stares at the floor. Loona’s mind buzzes with insults to hurl down at the angel but none of them seem right. Loona feels exhausted and lowers herself back down against the brick wall. She rolls her eyes and feels around her pocket. She pulls out the crushed cigarette pack and lights one.
"How did you think this was going to go?" Loona says and she blows smoke towards Lute. The angel waves it away, not looking up.
"I knew it wouldn't go well. Deep down," Lute says. “Part of me wanted it to go wrong. Make me realize how stupid I’ve been. I guess I didn't give a shit one way or the other."
Loona cocks her head, now curious.
"When I first started tailing you, I thought you’d be just some mongrel demons. In some ways I was right. You were there that day. I was surprised, there was nothing in the report about a hellhound being involved.” She laughs. "I remember you making a joke about the little red imp. I think you said something about dropping him onto the target to kill him."
Loona snorts smoke out her nose. “At that war memorial. Fuck I forgot about that.”
“I was hiding in an oak tree.” Lute chuckles. "I almost fell out of it laughing. Tailing demons is usually tedious work. Watching you made it go by quicker. I couldn’t tell you why. I'm in the shower one morning and I realized that I was looking forward to tailing you. Matter of fact, it was the only thing I gave a shit about. That’s when I knew I had a problem.”
“Why are you telling me this? You think I’m going to feel the same?”
Lute glares at Loona. “I don’t give a shit if you do or not. I needed to confess this to someone. I keep fantasizing about you.”
“Gross,” Loona says, putting the cigarette out.
“Not like that. Just...stupid thoughts, all day. It was impeding my work. I couldn’t tell anyone in Heaven, so I figured I would go to the source. I’d tell you to your face and see what you’re really like in person.” Lute’s eyes narrow. “I’d see you for what you truly were, as cowardly hellborn filth. That would dispel these blasphemous thoughts from my mind and I could return to optimal performance.”
“Uh huh.” Loona plays with the cigarette lid. “So, did it work? Do you see me as ‘hellborn filth’?”
Lute scowls. Her face mask grows yellow and she tucks her legs to her chest again.
“No. Seeing you just made it worse.”
“Holy shit, you’re down bad, aren’t you?” Loona laughs and Lute buries her face. A yellow glow peeks out from between her legs. Loona’s laughter dies down and she puts the pack into her back pocket. “What I don’t fucking get is, you’re an angel. You live it up there in Heaven, picking flowers and pissing champagne and-”
Lute pops up. “What? We don't piss-” She snorts, covers her mouth and giggles. Loona blushes.
"Fine whatever. What I don't get is why the fuck do you like me?" Loona raises her hands, exasperated. "I smoke. I fucking drink all the time because I can't sleep otherwise and my hair looks like shit every fucking day, because I just can’t get it right! Do you really expect me to believe that you like me?"
“I wish I had an explanation,” Lute says. “Everything I’ve said today is blasphemy, full stop. If I caught any other angel here in my place, they’d be on a fast track for immediate expulsion from Heaven.”
“But it’s not some other angel,” Loona says.
“No, it’s me. I don’t know what to do. I’ve never felt this way about anyone, let alone a demon.” Lute looks up. “Have you?”
“Nah.” Loona kicks her long legs out and leans against the wall. “Sometimes guys hit on me but usually I kick them in the crotch.”
“Then this was a waste of my time.” Lute gives a deep sigh and pushes herself to her feet. “I’m going to have to find some other method of ridding myself of these feelings. Thanks for listening, I guess.” Loona watches Lute pick up the spear and turn to the door. She feels uneasy watching the angel leave. Something about the conversation ending this way rubs her the wrong way.
“Hold up.”
Lute stops and turns back at Loona. “What? Make it fast, hellhound. The purge is about to end.”
Loona pushes herself up. "Okay, look, this whole thing is super bizarre and kinda fucked up. I mean, you were stalking us for like six months and you basically said you were going to kill us and-"
“Get on with it.”
“I’m getting to it, bitch,” Loona growls. “What I’m trying to say is, that despite this fucked up situation, it's probably the most interesting thing that's happened to me in a while. Do you…want to go out?”
Lute’s eyes widen. “A date? With you? You can’t be serious.” Lute snickers and Loona’s face grows hot.
“Oh, I’m sorry. Fucking remind me again, which of the two of us nearly had a mental breakdown confessing her feelings?”
Lute stops and returns to a scowl. “Having feelings is one thing. Acting on them is something else entirely. Think for a second, what do you think will happen if I’m caught dating you? How would that even work?”
“I don’t fucking know. Maybe you could say that you’re gathering intel or something.”
“Oh yes, I can see that working well. ‘I know what it looks like, Sir, but I assure you holding hands is vital intelligence to the mission.’”
Loona chuckles. “Would a kiss be considered top secret intel?”
A smile creeps across Lute’s face. She covers her mouth and laughs. Loona joins in. After a moment, they compose themselves.
“All I’m saying is, you said you wanted to see me to get a reality check.”
“Which didn’t work.”
“So maybe you just need some more exposure,” Loona says. “Give me time, I’ll find a way to make you sick of me.”
Lute leans against the door, her arms folded. “Hm. Maybe you have a point. I could pinpoint why I feel this way. Fine, I’ll take you up on your offer. Let’s exchange numbers. I’ll come up with something.”
They pull out their phones and exchange numbers. Lute opens the door and glances up at the sky. “It seems that they’re heading back now. I should go.”
"Uh, wait hold on," Loona says. "There's just one last thing.
“I need to go, demon. I’m not going to break my streak of punctuality for you.”
“Hey, I might not get a chance like this again. Those faces...they're masks, right?
"This? It’s a helmet but yeah." She smirks. "You want to see under it?"
Loona smiles and shrugs. "You got me."
Lute reaches us and pulls at the top of the helmet. The face flickers off as she lifts it over her head. Loona gasps.
She's beautiful.
Lute runs her fingers through her short silver hair. Her pale skin, slick with sweat, seems to glow in the dingy room. Her hardened eyes are gold and sparkle in the light of her halo, as though made of metal. Lute smiles, revealing pristine white teeth.
"My name's Lute, by the way."
"Hi, I'm Loona," Loona says softly, still staring.
"Yeah. I know." Lute puts her mask back on and stretches her wings. “Text me when you make it back. Test to see if can get a connection.”
"Y-yeah. You too." Loona stammers.
Lute jumps up. She hovers in the air above Loona and looks down.
“Your hair doesn’t look like shit, by the way.”
She waves and launches into the air towards a glowing opening in the sky. Loona waves back, then slides down the door frame.
"What the fuck am I doing?"
***
"LOONA!"
Blitz leaps forward, arms outstretched. Loona steps to the side, not looking up from her phone. He crashes into the door and crumples to the ground.
“Hey,” Loona says. The conference room door opens and Millie walks out. Moxxie follows, holding a small pair of binoculars.
“You okay?" Millie asks. "Blitz tried calling you like a million times. What happened?"
"I got caught outside. Completely forgot what day it is." Her ears prick up and she steps to her right as Blitz lunges past her and slides on the torn carpet. He pushes himself to his feet and turns to her.
“Loona...how many times do I have to tell you not to...to…” Blitz’s face turns pale. He grabs a garbage can and vomits.
“Are you drunk?”
“If by drunk, you mean he cleaned the entire office out of anything resembling alcohol, then yes,” Moxxie says.
“What?” Blitz stands, wiping bile and drool from his mouth. “I can’t be worried for my daughter? What if something happened to her? You know, every purge a quarter of a dozen hellborn go missing.”
“For fuck’s sake Blitz, I was gone like an hour. I’m fine, obviously.” Loona brushes past him and throws her phone onto the table. Blitz runs forward and glares at her, expecting more.
“That’s it? Where’s the booze? I sent you out with a list, bitch.”
“Bag ripped,” Loona says, turning away to hide her face growing warmer. “Those bastards got the cheap bags. Gonna have to get more.”
“For fuck’s sake. Alright, listen up. We’ve had a rough day and I think we could all use a fucking drink on Moxxie. What do you say?”
“What? Half the liquor here was mine, Sir. Besides, you’ve been doing nothing but drinking.”
"That was nervous drinking, Moxxie. This is celebrating drinking."
“First good idea I’ve heard all day.” Millie says. “Lead the way, boss.” They turn towards the door, Blitz stumbling slightly. He turns and looks back at Loona.
“You coming?”
“I’ll catch up. Uh, Millie? Can I talk to you for a minute?" Millie looks at her, confused. Blitz and Moxxie exchange glances. Loona’s face grows hot. "It's uh...girl talk."
"Uh sure, yeah." Millie says. They walk into Blitz's office and lock the door. Blitz looks around, then picks up a cup from the water cooler. He creeps forward and places it against the wall. Moxxie crosses his arms.
"Sir, seriously?"
Blitz shushes him and presses his ear against the flimsy cup.
"Yeah, I get that problem ALL the time, girl." Mille says.
"I just...didn't think there'd be so much. It got everywhere." Loona’s voice is quiet, almost ashamed.
"It normal. Now if it starts getting chunky, then you've got a problem."
Blitz grimaces and shakes his head. He waves Moxxie to the door.
***
The office door slams and Millie turns back to Loona.
"Alright, they're gone. What's up?"
Loona groans and rubs her eyes. She walks behind the desk and collapses into Blitz’s chair. Millie hops up onto a chair opposite her and stands on it, leaning against the back.
"Okay, so this is really weird and I don't know what to do. Promise me you won’t tell anyone.”
“Promise.”
“So I was walking back from the store when these three angels start throwing spears at me, so I ran away and found a place to hide. All of a sudden, this angel kicks the door in and says that she just wants to talk. Apparently she’s been following us for months and was supposed to kill us but didn’t because she has a crush on me and she confessed to me, which like, I guess is sweet? But she’s got this massive stick up her ass and she started having a nervous breakdown or something and I don’t know what I was thinking but I asked her out and she said yes, then she took off her mask as she’s actually really fucking hot. Did I do the wrong thing Millie? Like, will dating her going to start another war with Heaven? Is it illegal?” Loona sighs and leans forward, cradling her head in her hands. “I just need your help, cause you're in a relationship and you’re probably only demon I can trust with this sort of thing. What the fuck do I do?"
There’s no answer. Loona looks up and sees Millie staring at her, mouth open.
"What?” Milie asks.
"Urgh, fuck! Ok look, I was walking back from the store when-"
Millie holds up a hand. "Yeah, I heard you. But, an angel confessed to you?"
"Yeah." Loona says.
"Like, love confessed?"
"Pretty much."
Millie puts her hand over her mouth. She jumps off the chair and paces. After a moment, she stops.
"Okay, well, I wasn't expecting that,” Millie says. “Like ever."
"What do I do?
"I don't fucking know! I've never dated an angel. I didn’t even know they had feelings. I always thought they were robots.” She thinks. "You exchanged numbers, right?"
"Yeah. I said I would text her. Make sure the number works."
"Well, do it! Send her a picture too."
"Why?"
"Cause you might get one back."
Loona pulls her phone from her back pocket and raises it over her head, flashing an awkward smile. She attaches it to a message and types:
'hey, made it back. see pic for proof. also test'
Loona sends the text and sits back in the chair. Millie climbs back in her chair and sits this time, hands folded in her lap.
"You're not going to tell Blitz, right?"
Millie snorts. "Only if I wanted the whole ring to know."
Loona's phone buzzes, making them jump. She pulls it out and checks it.
“It’s her,” Loona says. Millie hops over the desk and peers down.
‘Good to know the connection works. I also returned. See the attached picture for proof.’
Loona taps the image to download it. After a moment it loads and they both gasp. Lute stands in front of a wall of pristine lockers, wearing a white tracksuit with the words ‘Exorcist Corps’ emblazoned on the chest. The angle is unflattering and Lute’s expression is austere but the light catches her eyes, making them sparkle. Despite the outfit covering her body, it accentuates her figure enough.
Another messages comes in.
‘In the future, refrain from sending pictures in demon form. Too dangerous.’
"Loona, you've got to date her." Millie says. Loona snaps from her trance and looks up at Millie, who stares back with an earnest expression.
"What? Are you serious?"
"Loona, fucking look! That's a catch of the century."
“Yeah, I can see that. You didn’t talk to her. Girl’s got a stick up her ass like nothing I’ve ever seen. Her confession sounded like it hurt her to say it. On top of that, she’s an angel. A fucking Exorcist!”
Millie shrugs. “So?”
“The fuck you mean, ‘so’?”
“When was the last time you gave a shit about sinners? When does anyone care about sinners, aside from that Princess?”
“No one? But won’t I get in trouble?”
“Probably,” Millie says. “I don’t know the rules. What I do know is that this angel is risking everything by confessing to you. Her job, her reputation, hell maybe even her life. Anyone with that much on the line saying yes to date you is worth a try, at least.”
“Either that or a restraining order,” Loona says.
"Loona, I'm not saying it's not weird or that angels aren't dangerous. Just give this one a shot. One date. If things don’t work out, the only thing you’ve lost is time."
Loona looks down at the picture again.
“I guess.”
Millie gestures for the phone and Loona passes it. She studies the picture, her eyes narrowing.
“This angel looks familiar, doesn’t she?” She pulls out her phone. “I could’ve sworn-”
Loud banging from the office door cuts her off.
“How fucking long does it take in there?” Blitz yells. “I can feel the mother of hangovers about to kick my fucking skull in. Let’s go!”
“Piss off,” Loona shouts back and takes her phone back from Millie. She sighs, feeling a pressure on her shoulders. Millie smiles up at her.
“Come on. Think it over while you get plastered.”
They walk out of the office.
"It's weird that she was stalking us, right?"
"Hey, that's how I snagged Moxxie."