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“Alright Loonie, you’ve got your phone all charged right?”
“...Yes.”
“Okay, and you’ve got your wallet? And your keys? And the keychain alarm and you remember how to use it?”
“Blitzø, chill the fuck out. I’m going shopping with Fizz, not to fucking war.”
The imp swirls around to glare at Loona, his hands on his hips as he stands above her where she’s lounging on the couch. “It may as well be! Fizz is one of those people who always ends up in some kind of ridiculous situation, and I’m not letting his bullshit mess with my baby girl!”
“Ew, stop.”
Blitzø doesn’t even register her annoyance, restarting the pacing he’d been doing in the space between their couch and the TV. He’d even gone out of the way to shove the coffee table to the side to give him more pacing space. Who does that? Loona watches him as he restarts his speech about staying safe and calling him at the first sign of danger, tuning it out and pulling out her phone when she feels it buzz in her pocket. There’s a text from Fizz, and she stands up immediately, her tail betraying her attempt to keep a cool face by wagging as she tries to inch towards the door without him noticing.
He does, instantly, because if there’s one thing Blitzø does well aside from killing, it’s notice shit. “Where are you going? Is he here? He was supposed to text me, that dickhea- Oh, he did. Well, let me walk you out at least, Loonie-toonie!” Blitzø shoves his phone in his pocket and puts on a smile that looks like it’s physically paining him to wear, but at least he’s not begging her to stay home anymore so she just groans and walks to the door and lets him do as he wants.
She clambers down the stairs, watching him slide down the stair post as he does most days, doing a little flip he’s perfected since his circus life and landing perfectly on his feet. Loona ignores it, as she does most days, and heads out of the apartment lobby with the imp hot on her heels.
Fizzarolli is outside, leaning up against a car that looks surprisingly lowkey, aside from how sleek and new it looked, and the pair of hounds in the front seats dressed in suits with sunglasses on. He himself is ostentatious as always, though technically ‘underdressed’ for clown standards, Loona guesses. A direct contrast to her own goth style, which she refuses to admit was partially influenced by Blitzø even though the spiked collar around her neck was once his. Fizz is in bright colors, but it’s more stylish than the garish setup he wore while he worked for Mammon. A lilac crop top and pants that balloon out at the bottom, striped with green and blue. A little heart choker around his neck, and some expensive-looking sunglasses that he rips off his face the moment he sees her.
“Loona! My favorite niece! Ready for some bonding time?”
Fizz is just as overbearing as Blitzø, but something about it endears him in a way that doesn’t work with her father. Maybe it’s the fact that he’s a celebrity, or maybe it’s just that they’ve got enough of a degree of separation that she can appreciate his excitement to see her when her brain insists it’s inauthentic every time Blitzø does it even when she knows he does mean it with every bone in his tiny body.
“Aren’t I your only niece?” Loona retorts in place of greeting him too nicely. The clown takes it with a raspy laugh, grinning at Blitzø who at least is trying to look like he isn’t the ball of nerves he actually is and fist-bumping him in greeting.
“Depends who you ask! I know another gal up here who might get a little sad if I answered yes, though I guess technically she’s Ozzie’s niece but whatever.”
Ozzie’s niece? The King of Lust has a niece? Before Loona can think too hard on that Blitzø is wrapping his arms around her, squeezing her tight. She growls but doesn’t shove him off, rolling her eyes as he starts to babble.
“Alright Loonie, you be safe okay? If something happens you leave that clown behind as a distraction and fucking gun it, got it?”
“Yeah right,” She grumbles, fighting the smirk that’s trying to sneak its way onto her face. One of the first things he told her when she’d set this shopping day with Fizz up was to keep an eye out for the jester. Even if he’s got his own guards that’ll follow them around, Blitzø said he trusted Loona’s judgment better than any of them and to just pick Fizz up and hide until she can call him if something happens.
His words get the indignant squawk she’s sure he was aiming for from Fizz, the clown yanking him off her to try and tussle. “Just cuz I let you use me as a distraction doesn’t mean that’s all I’m good for, dickhead!” Blitzø slips out of the other imp’s noodle-like arms with ease, grinning as he hops on top of the car.
“C’mon Fizz, you and I both know you’re not built for fighting! Do the good uncle thing and sacrifice yourself for my daughter if it comes down to it.”
“Hey!” The imps freeze as Loona calls to them, Fizz having just stretched up to Blitzø’s level, a hand wrapped around one of his horns and mid-yanking him off the roof of the car. “Are we going shopping or what?” Blitzø tumbles to the ground immediately, huffing and dusting himself off but sneaking a middle finger at Fizz when he thinks Loona isn’t looking.
“Alright fine, you two have fun! Bring her back before it gets too dark, okay Fizz? And send me pictures of what you buy! And if you get something good to eat make this fucker buy some to bring back for me! And-”
Loona shoves a paw over Blitzø’s mouth, scowling down at him until he shrinks slightly and folds his arms over his chest, mouth shut. “Bye Blitzø.” She slides into the back of the car and Fizz follows right after, rolling the window down and flipping Blitzø off as the car starts to pull away.
“See you later, sucker!” The clown calls out, laughing, and Loona can hear her dad’s voice shouting something unintelligible back until it fades in the distance as they drive away. Then Fizz settles in next to her, his grin lessening and something to his expression shifting in a way she notices but can’t decipher yet. “So! Ready to see how fast I can max out my credit card?” He asks with a little flourish of a card he pulls out of somewhere.
“Your card? Or Asmodeus’?” Loona regrets the words the moment she says them. Why is her first instinct always to antagonize? She knows why, really, but it still frustrates her. Luckily, Fizz is surprisingly unflappable and merely holds the card closer to her face to show off his name embossed on the front.
“All me, girly! You don’t become the most famous imp in Hell without making at least a little bit from it, right? And now that Mammon’s not got a grip on my spending anymore I can go wild!”
She wants to say something else, wants to seem cool, but everything that enters her mind sounds embarrassing. It’s the same sort of feeling she gets any time she’s around people she wants to impress, wants to befriend to some degree. At least it’s just one-on-one so if she fucks up only Fizz will be there to witness it, but that makes it hard in its own way too. Even if she does something embarrassing at one of Bee’s parties, there are plenty of other things going on to distract from her awkwardness to help her play it off. Here it’s just her, Fizz, and the hounds up front who have yet to say a word but she can see at least one of their ears turned towards the back.
Before Loona can try any lame attempts at conversation her phone buzzes wildly, and she pulls it out of her pocket and groans. “Fucking Blitzø,” she grumbles under her breath, staring at the wall of texts he sent, each one less decipherable than the last. She knows what he’s saying without even having to read it though. Just him playing his protective dad role he loves so much and telling her to come home early and ‘let hte cown pey 4 evythimg’.
Another 30-second span of buzzing fills the car but it’s from Fizz’s phone this time, the clown pulling it out and snorting as he reads what is surely another similar wall of text from Blitzø. Loona flushes, embarrassed, and leans back into the seat, shoving her hands in her pockets and leaving her dad on read.
“Sorry about him. He’s so fucking overbearing, it’s kind of insane.”
Fizz laughs again, typing something in reply before tucking his phone away again. “You do not have to explain Blitzø’s neuroses to me, I was there when they were made! He was like my own personal bodyguard growing up, believe me, I get it.”
Loona perks up at that, looking at the clown next to her with interest she tries to rein in. “Why would you need a bodyguard then ?”
“I didn’t!” The imp grins, his expression fond. “Well, maybe near the end, when I started getting more popular. But he was like my shadow all our childhood, wherever I went he was always somewhere nearby unless his dad had him off doing something stupid for him.” That gets her even more interested. Blitzø never talks about his parents, not that Loona’s ever attempted to ask him, but it doesn’t mean she isn’t at least a little curious.
“His dad?” She prompts, hoping Fizz will take it and run, and he does.
“Yeah, he was the ringmaster but such a fucking jerk. Maybe that’s fucked up of me to say, considering he sort of raised me too but I think Blitzø would agree. Got up to all kinds of shady shit to keep the circus running sometimes, and he’d make Blitzø help him once he got older. Anyway, he’s always been like this. Real protective over the people he loves. I’d say it’s one of his better qualities, don’t you think?”
Her ears flatten and she avoids Fizz’s gaze, but he doesn’t push her to talk. “Well I mean, yeah, he’s still a bit extra with it but… It’s nice. To know you’ve got someone like that in your corner.” It is nice. It’s more than nice. It’s something Loona’s told herself anytime her brain tries to keep her down or something goes terribly wrong. Blitzø is a lot of annoying things, but he is always, always the first person she turns to whenever she needs anything. And it’s nice to have that, after so many years without.
Before she can get too in her own head or snip at Fizz for tricking her into being vulnerable for a second, the clown presses his face to the window, ‘ooh’ing at the sight. “Looks like we’re here already! Let’s go!” He’s already flung the door open, hopping out and leaving it open so Loona can follow after him which she does. She looks around in interest, taking in the sights.
They’re in Greed, in one of the safer cities, Avarice, specially designed to line Mammon’s pockets by way of selling overpriced shit to the many non-Greed hellborn that come to the ring with money to burn. Specifically, they’ve come to the largest shopping mall in all the seven rings, one Loona’s always wanted to visit but she’s never had the funds to consider the trip worth it. Fizzarolli does though, and if he wants to waste some cash with her tagging along, well, she’s not going to stop him.
Fizz is already rushing into the mall and Loona has to hurry to catch up with him, as do the hellhound guards that reach his side and then slink out of sight. They’ll watch from the shadows, to avoid drawing any additional attention. Loona can smell them, even if she can’t see them, but she sticks a little closer to Fizz just in case something happens and it turns out they’re shit. The jester doesn’t seem to notice her concern, turning back to grin at her as they enter the mall.
“Where to first? Any ideas?”
“Uh, no. I’ve never been here before so, no idea what they’ve even got.”
The imp bounces, literally bounces, over to a giant stand, eyes glued to the digital map on display listing the many stores within the mall and their sections. “Let’s check this one out! Seems up your alley!” He points to a store under the clothing section called ‘Moonlight’ with a note for hound specialties. Loona didn’t really plan to buy much today but window shopping is still fun, so she shrugs and he takes it as the agreement it actually was and heads in the completely wrong direction.
She waits a minute for him to notice and when he doesn’t, she sighs and speeds up, grabbing his wrist to keep him from bouncing ahead. “You’re going the wrong way, dumbass. It’s on the east side.” Fizz turns to look at her, grinning in a way that makes her drop his arm immediately and storm ahead.
“Ya know,” Fizz starts as he stretches his legs to meet her stride. “Blitzø said if you start calling me names, I’m practically in the family already.” Loona huffs and rolls her eyes, picking up her pace to try and shake him but he just speeds up with her. “I’m kidding, but you know you react just like he does when he’s trying to play something off. Kinda cute. Oh, we’re here!”
Fizz rushes into the store while Loona stands outside of it, looking at the jester’s back. She’s not like Blitzø, is she? Well, sure, in their fashion sense, and their short fuses, but in her actual personality? How much has she picked up from him without even noticing? Why doesn’t it bother her as much as she thought it would? The clown calls her name and she sighs and heads inside, attention immediately shifting to the store’s contents.
It’s a hound clothes store alright, and it is fancy. Like, the kind of fancy where it all looks basic but then you touch the fabric and it feels like it was weaved by angels. It’s the kind of shit hounds can almost never afford on their own, unless they got adopted by some lesser nobility like fucking Vikki who got snatched up from the pound young by a pair of fancy fish bitches from Envy. She told anyone who could stand to listen to her blab for more than five minutes all about it and you knew it was the truth just from her wardrobe alone.
Window shopping it is. Loona doubts she can afford even a pair of underwear from a place like this with her budget, or lack thereof. Blitzø pays her fine but she’s in her twenties, it’s kind of a requirement to blow her cash as soon as she gets it. Fizz is already halfway across the store, shuffling through racks of clothes way too big for his frame but it doesn’t seem to deter him.
The clothes here are mostly out of Loona’s style, but there are some cute dresses that could be fun for parties. When her eyes linger on them a bit too long, Fizz pops up beside her, pulling at the hem of one of the dresses as he examines it. “Ooh, this is cute! Grab a couple colors and go try it on! And try these while you’re at it!” He shoves a handful of clothes into her arms and she stares down at them in surprise.
“What?”
“C’mon! Fashion show, no point in a shopping trip without one!” Fizz grins and Loona sighs and grabs a black dress from the rack before stomping to the back of the store to the dressing rooms. The imp follows behind her, settling into one of the poufs outside for people waiting. “Tell me if you need a different size for anything!”
Loona sets the clothes down and shifts through the stack. A lot are things she’d never choose herself, bright colors or patterns she wouldn’t be caught dead in if she had the say. They were very much Fizz’s style though, so she’ll try just one for his sake. There were a few good choices mixed in with the colorful ones, chic dark tops, and a few pairs of jeans specially made for hound legs.
She tries the dress she chose herself first, knowing it’ll be a winner for sure. It fits her perfectly, with a halter top and a short slit in the bottom hem to give it a little spice, she could definitely see herself wearing it to one of Bee’s parties if it didn’t cost a stupid amount of money. Still, at least she can take a selfie in it and show off a little bit. After taking a couple of pictures she opens the door and Fizz immediately gasps.
“Gorgeous! Do a spin!”
Loona begrudgingly listens, giving a full 360 and fighting hard not to smile at the exaggerated reaction Fizz gives her. “You need to get up to all kinds of shit in that dress, immediately.”
“Duh.”
She hurries back into the dressing room after Fizz starts to point out all the things he likes about the dress on her, too embarrassed to let him go on. It’s a cute dress, but it’s not like she’ll be buying it, no point getting too attached. She tries on some of the good choices he’d brought, a blood-red tank top that clings to her form well, and a pair of black jeans, the cut perfect for her leg shape.
“Fuck, and I thought the dress was good. Damn, I didn’t know they made special hound jeans, they look great!” Fizz is immediately in awe as she steps out of the room again, and Loona can’t deny that she’s feeling pretty killer in these too.
“Not a lot of brands bother. I usually stick with shorts, cheaper and easier to find.”
She heads back in and swaps the top for another, this one shock white and fancier, off the shoulder but with a fabric that still gave casual. “Ehh, not into this one,” she says to cut off Fizz from the barrage of compliments she was sure he was waiting to give her.
“What, why not?” He whines, Loona snorting at his tone.
“I’m too messy for white shit to stay white for long. At least the other top I could wear out in the field if I needed to and no one would see the blood.”
“You can’t build a wardrobe based on what clothes won’t show bloodstains, Loona, that’s kind of insane.”
“Why not? It’s how Blitzø shops.”
“Is that not proof enough of how insane a method that is?”
“Fuck, you’re right.” Loona groans as she stomps back into the room, shutting the door behind her. “Well, I still don’t like it so whatever!” She yanks the white top off and tosses it in the pile of clothes, pulling the jeans off and replacing them with a light wash pair that cut off at her knees. She pulls on a colorful top, one of Fizz’s more out-there choices and finds herself surprised at her initial reaction.
It’s bright orange, and her first thought was how Bee would probably love this on her. She shakes the thought away and ignores how she can feel her cheeks starting to heat up and tries to look at the top more objectively. It’s a crop top, which she loves, the neckline flattering but not too slutty, and somehow it just kind of works.
She sighs, already sure of the response she’s going to get, and opens the door. Fizz gasps, literally gasps at the sight of her, clutching his chest and pretending to faint. Fizz called her and Blitzø similar earlier but she wonders if Fizz notices how much he and Blitzø are alike too.
“Girl, you are stunning! Let me take a picture to show Blitzø, please, please, please, ple-”
“Fine, shut up!” She snarls, ears flattening for a moment before she huffs and poses for the camera, Fizz grinning as he snaps a few photos and immediately sends them off. The response is instantaneous, both their phones buzzing incessantly. Loona grabs hers from where she’d set it on the dressing room bench to find Fizz has added her and Blitzø to a group chat he’s named ‘fam’ and ignores the thud that her heart makes at it and scrolls up to the first message to see what the clown sent.
He’d sent all the pictures and Blitzø has already hearted them all, along with five separate texts about how beautiful and perfect she is, each more unintelligible than the last. She sends a middle finger emoji to the gc and considers leaving it before just locking her phone and walking back into the dressing room.
She tries a couple more pieces on, though none catch either her or Fizz’s eye quite like the orange top did, and finally, she redresses in her original clothes and walks out of the dressing room, dropping the pile onto the restocking table nearby. Fizz frowns, immediately joining her and grabbing a few pieces.
“You’ve got to get these, Loona, they looked so good on you!” He shoves the clothes back in her hands, notably all the ones she’d given a good response to, aside from the orange one but he shoves that in her arms too and she huffs and drops them again.
“I don’t have the cash for all this shit, I’m just window shopping.”
Fizz laughs and then his face turns somber. “Oh wait, you’re serious? Loona, I’m buying today. Like everything.”
“What?”
“You thought I’d just drag you along to watch me buy shit for myself only? What a shitty trip that would be! No, I’ve got years of birthdays and Sinsmases to make up for so let me buy you these unless there’s any there you don’t actually want.”
“I don’t need fucking charity,” she growls out, hackles raised, but Fizz only rolls his eyes and picks the pile back up himself, walking towards the front. “Fizz! I said-”
“I know what you said, but this isn’t charity! Gifts aren’t charity. They’re ways of showing love. You can throw them away when you get home if you really don’t want them.”
The clown sets them down at the register, the hound behind the counter scanning them in record time, and before Loona can fully realize what’s happening a bag is looped on her arm and Fizz is bouncing out of the store. She huffs in annoyance, stomping after him and stopping short when he goes into another clothing store, this one for imps. At least he can’t buy her anything here.
She walks up behind him as he rummages through a clothes rack, leaning down low. “Don’t buy me anything else without my approval, got it?” Loona snarls, Fizz peering up at her and smiling in response.
“Got it. Wanna help me pick out some clothes now?”
Loona looks around the store, humming in thought as she takes in the options. “Seems kinda dull for your tastes, don’t you think? Not a single piece of clothing bright enough to burn my eyes.”
“Alright, wiseass,” Fizz snorts, pulling out a couple items from the rack to look them over more closely. “I can wear neutrals sometimes!” Loona levels him with a look and he shrinks. “Okay, so maybe I don’t, but I could!”
“C’mon, there were more imp places on the map, let’s go find one with some damn color.”
Fizz shoves the clothes back into the rack, grinning as Loona leads the way again, bringing him a few stores down to another clothing store, this one offering clothes for imps, succubi, and incubi. It’s clearly more colorful from the start, the store sectioned off in different types of styles and shades. Fizz gravitates towards the pinks and purples, looking much more excited by his options as he starts going through them.
Loona wanders throughout before settling on the darker sections, blacks and deep violets and blood reds. If Fizz made her try some color, she’s gonna make him try some goth shit. It’s hard to estimate imp sizing since they come in so many shapes and sizes, so she just gives it a shot and grabs what she likes before heading back to Fizz and dropping them in his arms. He looks over the pieces with interest, mouth quirking as he flips through them.
“I’ve had my goth moment, Loona, you’re gonna give me flashbacks. Me and your dad used to dress like such fucking punks,” he chuckles at the memory, Loona snorting a little.
“Blitzø still dresses like one,” She says with a little smirk, Fizz laughing again as he pulls another garish top from the racks and adds it to his pile.
“You gotta give it to him though, it suits him. How could he not stay a punk forever when he’s got his own natural spikes, right?”
“True, can’t imagine him in some preppy shit with those. I bet it looked dumb in his clown costume though.”
“Eh, they didn’t stand out as much then, but they were a lot smaller, his back ones at least. Plus Cash had them, so it’s not like he was the only one.”
Loona lets her eyes wander as Fizz continues searching the racks. It feels weird to hear all these little tidbits of Blitzø’s life after years of almost complete silence about her adoptive father’s past. She had known he’d been a clown, knew he had a twin sister but only from the posters he displayed. She had no clue why he stopped being a clown until very recently, and even then she’s sure it was only half the story.
Fizz ends up grabbing one more thing and then he starts heading for the dressing rooms, Loona following behind and plopping into one of the chairs outside while Fizz goes in. The jester is much quicker at changing than she is, popping out almost immediately in a new fit as brightly colored as his last. It’s a flowy shirt, sunshine yellow and off the shoulder with puffy sleeves. He pairs it with a pair of god-awful hot pink bell bottoms polka dotted with orange, of all things.
“Shirt yes, pants, fuck no.”
“What! These are so cute, you’re crazy,” Fizz says with a huff, turning to look at himself in the mirror, inspecting the outfit carefully.
“I mean, maybe for your insane clown taste they’re cute. Which in that case, I guess get them.”
Fizz grins at her before heading back into the dressing room. “I knew you’d see the light.” He’s back out in record time with a new outfit, this one a dress, checkered in rainbow and tight to his body. “I’m not much of a dress wearer, but this isn’t bad, right?”
Loona looks him over. “Yeah, not bad. It’d kind of limit your movements though, can’t go bouncing all around and flashing people.”
“I mean, in Lust?” Fizz chuckles, laughing harder at the disgusted sound Loona makes before he goes back in again. “You’re right, you’re right, I’ll be good!” It continues like this for a few minutes, before finally he comes out in the outfit she picked out. Black mesh netting covers his arms and chest, stopping mid-waist. An especially short violet crop top is tugged over it, just barely long enough to cover his chest, and the black skirt paired with it is long, clinging to Fizz’s body well until it hits the metal limbs and falls flat and ends at his roboheels.
“I don’t think I can pull this off anymore,” Fizz says with the first frown Loona’s seen all day as he twists and turns to inspect himself from all angles. “The bright colors are a better distraction.”
“Distraction from what? How hot you are?”
Fizz lets out a single raspy laugh, gaze turning hard as he stares at himself, a hand slipping up over his exposed stomach and the splatter of white scarring that’s visible. Loona watches him judge himself for a few more seconds before sighing and holding her hand out.
“Give me your phone.”
“What?” The clown turns to her, brow furrowing in confusion.
“I said give me your phone.”
Fizz does, hesitantly, unlocking it for her first and sighing when she holds it up. “Pose, bitch!” Loona commands, Fizz rolling his eyes at her. “C’mon! I thought I was out on the town with the Lust ring’s sexiest clown, not their saddest one!” That gets a laugh, and then a half-hearted pose. “I know you can do better than that!”
“Okay, okay!” Fizzarolli rolls his eyes again but his smile’s returned, striking a pose and grinning when he hears the phone camera click as Loona captures it. He pulls a few more on her request, and by the time she’s given him his phone back Ozzie has sent 4 text messages.
Tell me you’re getting that Froggie
You look gorgeous
You need to show off your stomach more fuck I can’t believe how lucky I am look at you
The fourth turns out to be an image, one that Fizz opens and immediately closes, his face burning as he hurries back into the dressing room while Loona laughs. She doesn’t hear anything more from him, but when he comes back out the goth outfit is piled atop the armful of clothes she is positive are his ‘yes’ pile.
The goth clothes are bought alongside a rainbow of other items, and Loona feels prideful as they head out of the store together, slowing to a halt a few feet from the door as they figure out their next move. Fizz glances at his phone for the time, then up at Loona. “Wanna grab lunch yet?” She shrugs, and when he makes no move to go she sighs.
“Yeah, I could eat. Nothing fancy though.”
“Burgers okay?”
Burgers are more than okay. Loona tries to stop her tail from wagging too excitedly as they head for the food court. She doesn’t put up a fuss when Fizz pays for lunch, mostly because an 8-dollar burger meal isn’t going to break the clown’s bank, and food tastes so much better when it’s free. They commandeer a table in a corner away from the crowded hall filled with Greed and Envy demons and tuck in.
Loona appreciates Fizz’s appetite, from the way he went for the biggest, sloppiest burger they offered, to how he lets the mess cling to his face, licking it off his fingers and wiping his face clean only to cover it again in the next bite. The clown notices her looking after a moment and offers up his burger, already half-eaten. “W’nna bite?” he asks through a full mouth and Loona’s lip curls as she shakes her head and bites into her own burger.
“Just thought you’d be the type to eat all prissy and shit.”
Fizz chokes out a laugh, taking a long swig of his soda to help wash down the mouthful before he gives Loona a look. “Just cuz I live with a sin doesn’t turn me into a fancy bitch, Loona. I still grew up in a circus. I mean, could I eat prissy? Sure, but who wants to waste valuable burger-eating time like that?”
She shrugs in agreement and takes a large bite of her own burger, licking up the sauce that clings to her muzzle after. They spend a few minutes in silence, munching away at their burgers and fries as their eyes wander around the food court at the other demons in it. Loona finds herself caught on a young Envy demon and her mother, nibbling away at their pizza like it was a delicacy. “Must be used to fish food…” she mumbles, more to herself than Fizz, but it catches the imp’s attention and he follows her gaze, snorting as he takes in the scene.
“I feel like it’d be exhausting to be from Envy. I already care too much about what people think of me as I am, I can’t imagine caring and thinking I need to prove I’m better than everyone by eating pizza with a fucking fork.”
Loona doesn’t reply but she finds herself agreeing, shoving a couple of fries in her mouth as she watches the fish woman dab at her mouth with a fucking cloth napkin she pulls out of her bag. “Seems crazy for her to be using a personal napkin but still lowering herself to peasant food,” the hound huffs, Fizz humming in response, mouth full again.
Once he swallows the clown licks his lips and looks at the pair once more. “Baby’s first attempt at commoner food maybe. Show them how subpar it is to prove how good the food they get at home is in comparison or something.” They both chuckle at the ridiculousness of it, turning back to their own meals.
“Sooo,” Fizz starts, slurping his soda. “Enjoying the day with your funcle so far?”
“It’s not bad,” Loona admits, a little smile on her lips as she dips some fries in ketchup, pausing inches from her face when she realizes what he said. “The fuck is a funcle?”
“You know, like an uncle, but fun! Or I guess the F could stand for Fizz too. Either way, makes me your funcle.” She rolls her eyes at his explanation, amusement clear as it tugs at her mouth and forces a smile.
“It’s been chill. Thanks for inviting me.”
Fizzarolli beams unabashedly as he polishes off his burger first, licking his fingers clean once they’re empty. Loona finishes hers off with a couple more bites, and bats Fizz’s hand away when he tries to steal a fry. “You’ve still got some!” She snarls, and the imp grins, winding his other hand up from under the table on her side and snatching a fry, retracting it fast and brandishing the fry with triumph before tossing it in his mouth.
“Stolen food tastes better.”
She rolls her eyes, picking up her remaining carton of fries and tipping them into her mouth, chewing slow and flipping him off with both hands and earning a croaky laugh. Fizz follows suit, finishing the few fries left in his container and slurping down the rest of his soda before getting to his feet. “Alright! Battery recharged, time to buy more shit!”
He grabs the tray and rushes off towards the garbage bin, tipping it in and setting the emptied tray on top of it before bouncing back over to Loona who has only just stood up, her soda still half-full and held lazily in one paw. “Anywhere you wanna go next? Or should we just wander?”
“Let’s wander. There are so many fucking stores here, might as well take a look.”
Fizz nods in agreement and they head off together down a new wing of the mall, peeking in the different stores as they pass and pointing out anything that catches their eyes. They fuck around in an electronics store for a bit, Fizz gets a new charger and nags Loona until she lets him buy her a new phone screen protector and case, the jester having clocked the half-shattered one she still had stuck to her phone.
They pause to put it on and Loona stares at the screen pleased, the only crack left now is one in the corner of the screen itself that’s been there for a year. She mutters a thank you to him as she tosses her old protector in a bin they pass, the clown either missing it or acting like he had in favor of walking a few paces ahead looking for their next stop. It turns out to be an accessory shop, with all kinds of jewelry and accessories for all types of hellborn.
Loona makes a beeline for the earrings, looking for any made for hound ears. They’re hard to come by, as hound skin’s a bit tougher, so most normal earrings weren’t long enough to fit comfortably and not slip out. She finds a couple pairs, debating between a set of silver hoops and black bars when Fizz rolls up on her looking excited.
“Look what I found!” He grins as he holds out a necklace to her. It’s made of silver, delicate loops and curves in the metal that spell out ‘Luna’ with a gem set in the space of the a. She snorts at it, giving Fizz a bemused look.
“You know my name’s not spelled like that, right?”
“What?” Fizz falters, smile dropping as he looks back at the necklace and then to her. “Wait, how’s it spelled?”
She flushes slightly, it’s been a while since she had to correct someone on her name. It used to happen all the time when Blitzø first adopted her. “It’s two o’s. Instead of the u.” Fizz’s eyebrows go up, huffing and shoving the necklace onto a random rack of necklaces nearby instead of bothering to return it to wherever he found it. He pulls his phone out, typing away for a moment before holding it up to her. He’s showing her the contact page he has for her, name spelled correctly, and one of the shots of her in the orange top now as his contact picture for her.
“Like that?” She nods and he grins and puts his phone away. “Sorry about that, I shouldn’t have assumed. It’s cute! Double o’s, oh wait, is that why Blitzø calls you Loonie-toonie? That’s so cute.”
“Yeah, actually, he named me,” Loona mentions offhandedly, trying to look casual as she goes back to considering the earrings even though she knows that’ll get a reaction. Fizz doesn’t disappoint, the clown gasping and leaning into Loona’s space like Blitzø so often does.
“How did he name you? Didn’t he get you when you were already grown?” His eyes are wide and starry, and Loona immediately regrets sharing anything. “Please? C’monnn,” Fizz pleads, pushing closer until the hound finally has enough and huffs, shoving him back. He stumbles backward but catches himself, still clasping his hands together in an attempt to get her to share more.
Loona growls and then sighs, accepting that it won't kill her to share the story really, and if she doesn’t tell him then he’ll just ask Blitzø later. “It used to be Luna with a u, when I was at the pound. He spelled it wrong when he signed my adoption papers, and I just never corrected him. So now I’m Loona with two o’s. That’s it.” She doesn’t tell him about how she purposefully cut off the staff who tried to correct Blitzø’s spelling, or how she’d stared at her new name displayed proudly on her bedroom door in the tiny apartment she was brought home to for hours every day for the first three weeks she lived there. She doesn’t mention how it was the first thing she’d ever been given directly, even if it was by mistake, or how she cherishes it more than she will ever, ever let anyone know.
Fizz seems to get it anyway, settling down and smiling softly at her until she can’t bear to look at him and shoves both sets of earrings into his hands before stomping away, growling a “buy me these,” at him before she escapes to the other side of the store. He gives her a reprieve to gather herself, and when she joins him again he gives her a small bag which she shoves in her clothing bag while mumbling another half-hearted thanks at him.
They check out three more stores but don’t end up buying anything from them, ultimately ending up back at the food court, Loona waiting in a booth while Fizz buys them something for dessert. He ends up returning with ice cream for both of them, soft serve, one being a chocolate and vanilla swirl, the other what looked to be some kind of orange and vanilla swirl. She holds her hand out for the chocolate and vanilla, and Fizz hands it over without hesitation before settling into the booth opposite her.
They eat in silence for a minute or two before Loona looks over, snorting in amusement when she sees how messy Fizz already is. “Do you not know how to eat an ice cream, dude? Go around, you’re dripping all over your hand.” Fizz blinks at her before twisting his hand to see what she’s talking about, drips of orange and white coating the back of his metal hand. He shrugs, licks it clean, and then goes back to focusing just on the side facing him. Loona rolls her eyes and continues eating her own cone, taking much more care than Fizz to keep from dripping. Sticky stuff is a nightmare to clean out from fur.
“Is that like, a creamsicle?” She asks after another moment, Fizz pausing his eating to grin and hold it out to her.
“Yup, it’s great! Try it, I haven’t touched that side yet, no germs!”
She almost tells him she wouldn’t care, she’s stolen so many of Moxxie’s half-eaten lunches at this point to give a shit about ‘germs’, but she doesn’t. Instead, she just leans over and laps up the untouched side of the ice cream cone, nodding in appreciation after. “It’s good. No chocolate vanilla twist but it's good.” Fizz seems happy enough with that reply, and finally starts to lick his ice cream properly, tongue lapping up the half-melted side Loona had tried it from. She wonders idly if he’d left it untouched just in case she’d wanted to try it. That’s the kind of shit Blitzø would do. She doesn’t settle on the thought too long, and instead crunches into her cone and lets the brain freeze that hits keep her busy for a while.
When they’re done, they both stand up, stretching a bit. Fizz looks up at her, then at his phone for the time and hums. “Sun sets soon, you gonna turn into a pumpkin if I get you back to Blitzø after it’s dark?” She rolls her eyes, checking her phone too. There’s a handful of messages from Blitzø which she ignores, and two in the group chat she has with Bee and Tex on Sinstagram. She doesn’t open it yet, wanting to play it cool, but her tail betrays her interest by wagging behind her until she snatches it up in an attempt to play it off by running through the fluffy fur.
“We can go whenever, but we should grab Blitzø something to eat before we do or I won’t hear the end of it.”
“You’re so thoughtful, Loonie!” Fizz grins as she snarls and snaps at him, face heating up as the clown bounces out of reach. The hound stomps after him, hands crossed tight over chest and feeling like a child mid-tantrum when Fizz stretches up to ask her what to get Blitzø and she replies in a grumble he just barely manages to decipher. She’s given another bag, this one with cheap food court Chinese food, the takeout containers filled to the brim.
Fizz fills the silence as they walk towards the exit, blabbing about something Loona isn’t fully paying attention to. She caught Ozzie, and dinner, and the rest was lost to her inattentiveness. Luckily the clown doesn’t seem to notice, or at least he doesn’t care if he does, only stopping his incessant chattering when they get to the parking lot. The security hounds, who Loona hasn’t seen all day, slink out of the shadows, one stepping up next to them while the other walks out to the parking lot to pull the car around.
“You guys got to eat, right?” Fizz asks, peering up at the larger hound who gives a friendly smile and nods at his boss. Fizz seems happy enough with that for an answer, and when the car pulls up they all climb in, Loona and Fizz in the back together again. As the car pulls off Fizz looks over his haul, setting them down between his legs. “I think that was a pretty great shopping trip, don’t you?”
“Sure,” Loona replies automatically, before shrinking into herself slightly in shame. He bought her so much, spent a whole day pretty much doting on her, and all she can say is sure? “I mean,” she starts, ears drooping as she pointedly avoids looking Fizz in the eyes. “It’s been awesome. Thanks for uh, well, everything. Really cool of you.”
She glances over for just a moment and immediately looks away again, face reddening at the sappiness in Fizz’s expression. “Aww, Loona, I’m glad you enjoyed yourself! You’re super cool, I can see why Blitzø brags about you any chance he gets.” Fizz chuckles and Loona can feel her face burning even as her tail whaps into the seat cushion from how hard it’s trying to wag. “Can I bug you for another trip again soon?”
“Yeah. That’d be cool.”
Fizz immediately grins and starts rattling off ideas for their next day together while Loona tunes him out again, looking out the car window. Fizz is pretty cool, even though he reminds her a lot of Blitzø. Or maybe it’s because he reminds her of Blitzø. Not that she’d ever admit he could be cool to anyone, but maybe she’ll start letting herself think it more. Either way, not the worst guy to have for a funcle.