Archive of Our Own ^beta

“Oh Fizzy-frog~!” Ozzie smiled, a sing-song tone in his voice.

Fizz looked up from his book, a little confused. “Ozzie? What are you still doing here? Don’t you have meetings and shit?” he wondered, utterly confused.

“Pssh! I’m a Sin, baby, remember?” Ozzie laughed. “I can take a day off if I wanna. And I wanna spend it with you.”

Fizz giggled as he felt Ozzie boop his nose. He always did love that spontaneous side to him and he loved any ideas he had for fun. “Alright babe ya sold me. What do you wanna do?” he asked, snaking his stretchy arms around him.

“Well, I was thinkin’ we visit a Ring you haven’t been to,” the taller Sin suggested. “I know Mammon didn’t really let ya get out much so I wanna take you wherever you wanna go.”

“Hmm…well Greed’s out for now since I’ve seen enough green for a lifetime,” Fizz pondered. “And Sloth…bad memories, no offense.”

“None taken,” Ozzie replied.

Fizz tapped his lip before a broad grin crossed his face. “I know! I wanna go to Gluttony!” he decided. “Mammon never let me do a performance there so I wanna see it for myself!”

Ozzie laughed goodnaturedly as Fizz practically glomped onto his broad chest. “Alright Gluttony it is!” he told him, dialing up Bee on his phone to let her know they’d be coming. “Bee? Hey baby girl. Ya mind if Fizzy and i come to hang out? He’s real interested in your pool.”

‘Sure thing, Oz! I’ve been DYING to have you both come chill! Vortex is coming over too!’

“Great! See ya soon!” Ozzie grinned, hanging up the phone and turning back to Fizz. He was trying not to burst out laughing at his eager face. “Looks like we’re in Fizzy-babe.”

“You’re the best!” Fizz cheered, giving Ozzie a big smooch.

(...)

Packing up a beach bag and making sure one of Ozzie’s workers could look after the Quieves for the day, the two made their way to Bee’s place. Thankfully Bee wasn’t hosting a party at the moment so they had all her attention to themselves. And Ozzie was glad Vortex was over as well. He had heard from Fizz about how the Hellhound had looked after him during the whole trial thing and he heard good things about his bodyguarding prowess from Verosika’s crew so he was curious about meeting the big guy face-to-face.

Since Ozzie and Bee were so close, he felt protective of her.

The two walked behind Bee’s house since her pool was in the back and they’d be hanging out outside most of the day anyway. Bee was handling the grill while Vortex was setting out plates and cups. The Gluttony Sin looked up, her tail wagging excitedly.

“Hey! Ya made it!” Bee waved.

“Bee! Good to see ya, girl!” Ozzie grinned, giving her a hug.

Fizz smiled a bit as Vortex walked up to them. “How’ve ya been, big guy?” he asked.

“Pretty good, little dude,” Vortex nodded, offering him a fist bump which Fizz returned.

“Your Ring is beautiful, Miss Bee!” Fizz gushed. “It’s like an awesome beach resort!”

Bee laughed, her mane turning pink from bashfulness. “Aww it’s not that big a deal. I just figured it would be fun to have a cool place for peeps to hang out, ya know?” she replied.

“Welp, is there anything we can do to help?” Ozzie asked. “Just to ease the burden off you guys.”

“Actually, could you go with Vortex to get some more drinks from inside?” Bee requested. “I wanna get to know your cutie-pie a little more.”

“I’m cool with that,” Vortex nodded, guiding Ozzie inside. “I think they should be in the drinks fridge.”

Fizz looked up at Bee in awe. “You have a fridge just for drinks?” he blinked.

“Well yeah. I try to keep all my foods and drinks separated when I’m cooking or getting ready for parties, ya know? Sometimes I don't wanna have to use magic all the time so I have a system,” she began, summoning a magic diagram of her food storage systems. “Stuff near the oven and microwave are easy-cooking stuff that I heat up when I’m feeling lazy. The deep freezer is split into meats I freeze and ice cream treats. Sometimes I’ll even stick an ice cream cake in there for parties.”

“Wow, remind me to come to YOU whenever I’m craving anything!” Fizz joked, making Bee laugh.

“You ARE funny, little dude,” Bee giggled before giving him a soft expression. “So how have you been, hun? You’ve been okay since that whole trial thing?”

Fizz adjusted his hat before letting out a sigh. “Well…I’m doing alright but it was still pretty scary,” he admitted, scratching the back of his head.

Bee helped Fizz sit down, sitting across from him. “Wanna talk about it?” she offered, taking his hand.

Fizz nodded as he let out a deep sigh. “When the first trial happened, I was at home. I didn’t know anything. All Ozzie said was it was apparently a big deal and that he’d be back later…” he began, his tail wrapping around his legs as he hugged himself. “Seeing Blitz bound and gagged and almost dying…it terrified me…”

Bee felt her mane turn a soft blue as she rubbed her thumb on top of his hand. “I am…so sorry I couldn’t do much. Satan was being an asshole that day. Mammon too,” she told him. “I really liked Blitz when I met him at that party and he doesn’t seem like a malicious supervillain.”

“Oh he’s nothing like that!” Fizz promised. “Sure he can be a klutz…and kind of dopey…and very dorky…but he’s really a good dude. I…should’ve remembered that after the accident.”

“Were you ever invited to those parties his ex threw?” Bee wondered. “I ain’t judging but I only provided booze for those because Vortex requested and I knew he could handle things if shit hit the fan.”

“I was…but I never went,” Fizz explained, a slight bitterness in his voice. “Even with how angry I was at him…I couldn’t do it. I’d say I was too busy–which, when I was working for Mammon I was–but I was in a good place with Ozzie. And when I made up with Blitz, the idea of those parties really disgusted me.”

“Yeah…I hope what Vortex said about her reaction to the trial means that shit is gonna stop…” the hound-like Sin admitted.

“I don’t expect them to be buddy-buddy. Really, I think they’re better off far away from each other,” he continued before running a hand over his face. “But I realized…I’m not any better. Even though I was in a better place than he was, I used that to tear him down and be a dick just because I could. His business was struggling and I was living the highlife but when I saw him at the club and on the streets of Greed…I just used all that hurt to hurt him…even though I should’ve known he was hurting too…”

Bee immediately moved to give him a hug, letting him lean against her. “Hun…you really were hurting, weren’t you…” she whispered, gently rubbing his back.

“I feel so stupid…” he sniffled. “I keep thinking…what if I never made up with Blitz and the last time I saw him was when he almost died? Or, Lucifer forbid, Stolas didn’t make it in time?” He felt tears starting to well up as a shaky breath escaped him. “If I lost him without making things right between us…I don’t know if I could forgive myself…”

“Oh honey…you are such a good friend to him,” Bee reassured him, surprising the smaller imp.

“B-But I was acting like a total bully!” Fizz cried, shaking in her arms. “H-H-He was just t-t-trying to have a nice d-date a-a-and s-s-stand up for his friend when w-w-we were too damned cowardly to admit we were in a relationship! I was so mad…but I missed him so fucking much…”

Bee conjured up some tea to help calm him down, letting him take some deep breaths as he slowly sipped his drink. “Hun…we all make mistakes. My mistake was not being more active the first time at the trial. I didn’t think Satan would be that much of an ass but…I learned that the hard way. I really hope he learns his lesson. Same with Mammon too.”

“You…really think they could?” Fizz whispered.

“Well…I can’t say for sure but your buddy helped start the change. And my niece is quite a special lady so I think she’ll be able to help,” Bee smiled warmly.

“Thanks…” Fizz smiled, taking another sip. “If…I wanted to come hang out, would that be okay?”

“Of course! Everyone’s welcome at my crib!” Bee grinned. “Wanna help me with the burgers?”

“Fuck yeah!”

(...)

“So what’s your drink of choice?” Vortex asked, looking at the drink fridge. “We got alcohol and non-alcoholic drinks.”

Ozzie was impressed with Bee’s set-up. It had been a while since he had been over to visit her place so he was curious about her kitchen set-up. It still amused him that she would have such a big kitchen when she could conjure any food she wanted. But he enjoyed cooking sometimes too so he wasn’t about to knock her hobby.

“I think I’ll play it safe with some non-alcoholic grape cider,” Ozzie decided, picking out a green bottle.

“Good pick,” Vortex smiled, picking out some sodas and fruit punch.

“So…how’s Bee been since everything went down?” Ozzie asked, wanting to get her boyfriend’s perspective.

“Well…she’s been dealing with it pretty well for the most part,” the hellhound replied. “She’s glad everything worked out but…I think she’s a bit bummed out.”

“Oh shit, really?” the Lust Sin winced.

“Yeah…Mammon’s always been a bit of a dickhead so she knew he had it coming but Satan–” he tried as Ozzie placed a hand on his shoulder.

“Satan and her were pretty tight. He’s one of the few of us that could get him to be less of a crab,” Ozzie finished, letting out a sigh. “Yeah…before things went tits up, we were all pretty close. Well, maybe not Mammon so much but it was more fun to tease him than him actually being a dick. I hope spendin’ time with their niece can help get their heads out of their asses.”

“Lucifer willin’? I hope so,” the shorter demon nodded, cracking open a soda. “Makes me wonder if there's hope for my boss.” Realizing what he just said in front of the guy that MADE all the succubi/incubi in Hell, Vortex tried to correct himself. “Shit sorry. That’s not–”

“Hey you’re off the clock. And I ain’t no tattle-tale,” Ozzie replied with a wink.

Vortex’s shoulders relaxed a bit as he leaned against the counter. “Oh thank fuck…” he sighed. “I gotta level with ya, I’ve been working with her for a while and honestly it’s been rough.”

“How so?”

Vortex looked around before taking a drink. “I try to keep work-shit and personal-shit apart and it’s been hard whenever she decides to go after her ex. I’ll do my thing and protect her from him but the little dude just seems harmless even if he had a bit of a mouth,” he started. “It’s not like I don’t get it. Getting ghosted by someone you like a lot sucks. But is it worth bein’ so obsessed ya throw a party year after year dwelling on it? She says it’s to help cope but…I regret bein’ a part of that shit.”

Ozzie sat at a table, nodding sympathetically. “Honestly, I regret bein’ a jackass that night at the club,” he admitted, rubbing his temples. “I had to keep up my reputation when that little guy was bein’ all mushy with his wife and when Fizz and Verosika were pilin’ on Blitz…I just piled on Stolas too.” He placed his head in his hands. “Stolas was suffering and I made a fucking joke about it…”

“Do you hate him?” Vortex asked.

“No I just…didn’t know how to get on with him. He’s more introverted and kept to himself and I like bein’ around other demons,” Ozzie explained, feeling like an idiot. “I should’ve realized something was wrong with how Stella talked about him at those parties.”

“Don’t kick yourself too hard,” Vortex reassured him. “I’m paid to be the hardass she needs to protect her from crazies…but sometimes I wonder if she needs protection from herself…”

“Did she see the trial?” Ozzie wondered.

“Yeah…I think that was the real wakeup call she needed about how her yearly parties were stupid,” Vortex nodded, running a hand through his fur. “When ya let hate overtake ya, you never realize how much that’ll really fuck you up. She was at least starting to get over the pain he caused her from what I heard at the party…but seeing him almost die for real really made her regret the ‘death to Blitz’ motif she had goin’ on.”

“I may need to talk to her about that,” Ozzie muttered.

“Good luck. One thing those two definitely had in common? Bein’ stubborn as hell-mules about how things went down bad,” the hellhound groaned. “I don’t like gettin’ mixed up in drama. It’s hard enough lookin’ as scary as I am but I just wanna do my job without worryin’ about other shit.”

Ozzie looked at the hellhound seriously before giving him a smile. “Well, ya looked after Fizz when he was stressin’ out. And I heard ya apologized for bein’ involved with that party. Takes a lot of guts,” he reminded him.

Vortex felt his tail swish from the compliment before laughing nervously. “W-Well I couldn’t just leave him alone, ya know? And the little dude’s pretty damned brave calling out his former boss. I wish I could be more like that,” he admitted.

“Hey you stood up too. Bee would be proud,” Ozzie replied before placing a hand on his shoulder. “And thanks for bein’ a good guy to Bee. I love her and want her to be happy, ya know?”

Vortex smiled, feeling a little better about the whole thing. No wonder Bee was so close to him; he really was a chill dude. “She means the world to me. I’d never wanna make her upset,” Vortex promised.

“Oh I know,” Ozzie smiled knowingly, his mane flaring up for a moment to get the message across.

(...)

“Hey you guys! Got the drinks ready?” Bee guessed, seeing the fellas come back from the house.

“Yeah. Got a good chat in too,” Ozzie replied, laughing when Vortex joined Fizz in the pool. “Hey don’t get too comfy in the water! Lunch’ll be ready soon!”

“You got it, big daddy!” Fizz called from his floaty ring.

“He is so cute,” Bee gushed. “He’s great at organizing burger toppings.”

“Isn’t he though?” Ozzie sighed wistfully before looking at Bee gratefully. “Thanks for talkin’ with him. I think…he’s been carryin’ a lot after that whole mess.”

“And you too, right babe?” Bee guessed. At his nod, Bee gently touched his face while flipping burgers. “Oz you can’t keep blaming yourself. You know Satan and all those Goetia have sticks up their butts.”

“I know. I guess I just wanna try and be better. I don’t wanna let Fizz down…or myself down,” he admitted.

Bee stroked his face, bumping foreheads with him. “You’re already on the right path, Ozzie. It’s just gonna take time. I know I gotta work on takin’ shit more seriously. It’s a process,” she reasoned.

“Thanks Bee,” Ozzie smiled softly.

Soon enough they were all sitting by the pool, enjoying their burgers and drinks. Bee and Fizz were practically competing to see who could make the craziest burger combinations while Ozzie and Vortex watched in amusement. Along with being sexy, the duo found their partners to be absolutely funny in their own ways. Fizz with his excitable personality and Bee with her randomness; they were very endeared to them.

And after a stressful time like the past few months, they were so grateful they had each other and could all bond.

[END]