Spring Catch-All

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Spring Catch-All

Blitzø
Running the BIZZ with I.M.P., got that jingle re-aired recently, and is otherwise prone to be stalking people he likes to jump them with affection - whether you want it or not. Things have been calm enough for long enough that he has been extra annoying lately.

Charlie
The girls are focusing on the Hotel again this month - there haven't been any new guests, but that hasn't discouraged Charlie one bit!! She's out eagerly talking to Sinners about maaaaaybe checking in, maybe trying for redemption?

She's also extremely happy for any social calls from any of the wonderful friends she's made over the past couple of years!

Poppy
She's got a new internship offer from a center in Gluttony! ...She has to talk to Sten about that, first.

Dio
Their first few spells manipulating chance and paradoxical realities are starting to reach final draft... things have slowed down since they are quite intently helping Jasper research dream magic and the like to look into the darkness in his mind.

Loona & Bee
Loona's been sort of... sucked into a little throuple? Unexpectedly?? She doesn't hate pup-sitting nearly as much as she thought she would. ...They're getting big. Bee has been feeling even more confident leaving the pups in other people's care once or twice a month to throw a huge party, getting her honey back up and enjoying dates with her handsome Tex and with her cute new little Loona~

Barbie
There's talk about a dealer in Sloth... Pride?... that can give you the impossibly good shit... it won't make you high, but it will fix you. An imp woman covered in scars. She's been doing well for herself for the most part ever since Goro got her that connection through the soft-headed angel girl wanting to distribute aid to residents of Hell. And so what if she collects favors, deals and cash to make up for her work selling and traveling without getting stabbed and robbed?

Emberlynn
There's.... rumors... that the porn scene is finally getting a new direction?? If you've noticed your porn being... strangely more emotion-driven, that's no accident - a lot of scripts are now credited in writing and directing by "Emberlynn", and there's talk of a sort of strange sex worker union under her??

Et Cetera!
Everyone else isn't doing anything outside of their 'usual' routines... but they are around!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Settling into a new routine was a welcome relief. Everything that followed what happened with Nautilus... it was chaotic, but there was at least a new normalcy.

And she didn't lose what made Sten who he is, fundamentally. She'll leave hunting them down to Garrick.

A new daily routine she's picked up, though - preparing food as fresh as she can get the ingredients and bringing a share of lunch to Sten. Immortal or not, good food did help a body feel better, which helped the mind in turn - and canned meat and recycled Sinner was never a good diet.

Looking for Emberlynn? It's surprisingly easy.

There's some people trying to muscle in the porn industry lately, but what's popular on the net right now all has one name on it - Emberlynn.

Indulgent horny monsterfucking. Melodramatic slutty romances. Fanfiction about the Deadly Sins. Shockingly deep stories about girls realizing that their love interest is in love with another and learning to admire them instead of be jealous. More monsterfucking.

The scripts were all written before, but by now? There's a studio under Emberlynn's name. This has brought some attention, though - people trying to come in and talk to the sex workers and production staff, spreading fearmongering, spreading doubt. Those that are staying seem loyal, but some nasty rumors are starting up...

There are gunshots around Emberlynn's studio.

I mean, there are gunshots everywhere, this is still Pride we're talking about, but there are more than the average amount of gunshot sounds happening around the studio. The weird thing is, it's not really centered broadly, it's rather concentrated on a few taller buildings surrounding the area.

A station wagon parks around back of the site. A little bat hefts up a little four-carton of paper cups with sleeves, and then starts trailing behind that with a little red wagon carrying a little honey-crumble crepe cake. They try to push themselves through the front door. "Hey, uh. I got a delivery here. It's for..."

Ah, crap, they forgot. They wind up propping the four-cup carton on top of the edge of the wagon before starting to look through their phone again. "Uh. Emberlynn. I have a delivery order for Emberlynn."

Inside are a few of the workers - a few are helpful in holding the door for Peet and ushering them in away from the gunfire, while a lady sinner with a fantastic cobra head called down the hall, "Ember! The coffee's here!"

"Comiiiing! Just a minuuuute!" a cheerful voice piped from one of the rooms in the back, before the overwhelmingly pink Sinner emerged, practically twirling (and tripping a little, scattering paper freshly printed--)

GASP!!!

Tiny wings fluttering, Emberlynn practically leaped the whole distance of the building to Peet, squishing her own cheeks in utter delight as she eagerly cooed, "Oh my GOSH you are so!! Kawaii! Those big ears, those cute wings, the fluff!!"

"Yep, I know. I assure you, I'm even fluffier than you think I am, but you have to earn any pets or touching."

No point in lying. Also no point in not setting up boundaries.

Peet begins to pull out a reciept, when...

It just reads,

Too many eyes on. Here for a business proposition. Take me somewhere quiet. Yours is a matcha latte. You seem the sort.

Edited 2025-05-06 03:45 (UTC)

Gasp...! This is like one of those spy thriller notes!! She was wondering who ordered coffee!

"Yeah!! I'll get the payment, can you bring the cake to the break room? Thanks for the meowtcha!"

She'll lead the way to the break room, which is right next to the little office Emberlynn claimed for her writing - her spot is really just a glorified closet with a computer setup, a half-written script still on screen even by the time the treats are left in the break room and she invites Peet into her space. Emberlynn hops up with her tiny wings fluttering to yank the lightbulb cord and turn the light on.

Peet takes their little red wagon over to the break room. Meowcha. That's funny. That's really funny.

They get everything set up in the break room. They make sure nothing is currently uploading or downloading before pulling the ethernet cable, then with a staticky stripping noise, pulls something out that was duct taped to the bottom of the wagon, before pushing down on a button onto it.

"You're gonna have network connectivity issues for the next ten minutes, I apologize for the inconvenience, I'll keep this brief." They say, flapping up onto the table and carving off a piece of the crepe cake. "My name is Peet Moss. I'm the representative of Loup Garou Investments, LLC. I have come to buy into your little studio business you've got going here."

They reach under the cake, and pull out a fresh contract from beneath it, before offering it to Emberlynn.

There is a very large number near the top.

2.2 Billion souls.

"...Whoa! That's lotsa money. That's almost as much as Vox-san offered," Emberlynn gawked, tail swishing as she looked at the number on the contract before looking up at Peet again. "But we didn't really wanna sell to someone that wanted anyone's souls! Everybody doesn't want to get stuck like they were with that Valentino guy - so we all agreed to stick together."

She seems on the surface like a bit of a ditz, but there's a wariness to Emberlynn now, a subtle shift. She'd made mutual agreements with everyone working here that she'd 'tie' her soul to everyone's for as long as they wanted to work with her so their souls couldn't be yoinked... the actual effect of that hadn't really made itself obvious to her yet.

"What're you looking for, Mossu-dono? If you're a fan of our work, you can always join normally! There's lotsa ways to help out."

"Ugh. Don't get me started on Vox. And, I don't think I'd be good at this sort of thing. I'm more of a bat that stays in the back." The wave their paw-hand. "Look. There's a bunch of ass-covering script there, admittedly, not all of that money is heading to you directly. What I'm doing is getting you plugged into a project of mine and asking you to make a bunch of stuff for it."

"See, Voxtech is the king of Pride communications. A little less so since Valentino's out of the picture, but they want capital-S Souls. I don't give a crap, and the fact that they're being so short sighted and not even bothering to understand that there's a lot of Hellborn that want to see some stuff that wasn't made by Mammon-" They seemed to say that with a little bitter bite, "- and the whole six other layers of hell are being really underserved. So, I heard that there's this thing called satellite TV topside, and I want to make a satellite service for hell by mounting 'hotspots' in each of the nine Hells where you can connect to the internet, watch stuff, wherever."

"But I need a draw to get people to actually subscribe, and I want you and your stuff to contribute." They yawn. "That's what a good chunk of the money's for, to get you set up to operate on it, and then get you set up to produce more, broaden business, get more projects under way."

They suck their teeth. "Another hard sell is that I recognize that your business has employees that aren't going to be on every project. And I have a whole lot of new businesses that need bodies. Like, seriously, I have nine new businesses I'm launching because my robots need to not get taken advantage of, too. So, I was thinking, when your people don't have work on the docket, and they're interested in moving around, they could talk to some of my unions and we could transfer their contract for as long as they want in and I want them, and they can come back when you do have shoots for them for as long as they want in and you want them. And if they really want to get clean and have a clean break, we can provision in that they spend a decent amount of time in the Hazbin Hotel, and after being there for long enough, they get clean, and then a clean break."

They lift their hands up as though they were trying to intercept the outrage before it got to them. "I recognize that as self-serving, so I also provisioned in security for your studio from one of my businesses, and we also advertise each other's stuff. You know, I might throw in some box art on Peetza Pie boxes of new stuff you're putting out."

Bang! Bang!

"Honestly, the turrets seem to be doing pretty well at driving away busters." They say, kicking their feet a little while on the counter.

"Ooooh, I know Zuri-chan and Dawson-kun were talking about not really wanting to be stuck doing sex forever!! I said they could hang out and work with us until they were ready to do something - or someone - they loved!!" Emberlynn giggled in delight, voice melodramatic and saccharine.

"But we gotta ask everyone what they think. We'll vote on it! I'm only the boss because we used my name for stuffs!" The turrets comment had her laughing, too - "And Mossu-dono, you sound like you'd be great at security setup if you really wanted!! Don't sell yourself short! You seem super duper smart."

"Man, I'm honored that you think that, but, uh. I've got nine-plus businesses I manage, I have a fixer thing I do, I have a legit business I work called the Fair Trade (I made those drinks and pastries), and I have a sleeping disorder and a social life. I don't think that I have time to be running security, personally, too."

They brush their shoulder. "I made an exception here and basically employed one of my businesses early, pulled a few strings in Lust, and got a few remote turrets made that are being operated by some prototype 'bots stationed around here. I got tell VoxTech decided to throw some union busters here and I took it personally."

"That being said," They gesture outside of the writing office, checking their watch. "Please do. We have about six and a half minutes left before wifi signals start working themselves out. Forgive me for any inconvenience this might have caused. Any talk beyond that, I will have to pretend to just be a delivery driver for."

They pause, then grumble at themselves before peeling the tape off and handing her some posterboard slides. "Oh, right! I made a power point thing!"

"Kakkoiiii... you're so hardworking, Mossu-dono!" Emberlynn fawned, tail swishing and hips wiggling over-dramatically like an anime character.

"But talking and getting everyone's opinion takes a while so if the wifi is the probleeeem theeeeeen...!" With a happy little skip, she went to the tiny corner of the room and completely unplugged the modem and router, setting them each on the chair she'd been perched in.

"But I think everyone will like the idea! Imma round them all up and we'll get a vote!"

"It's more that I'm guessing that this place has been bugged somehow, somewhere, and those tend to use cell signals. But, if you insist."

They offer a little grabby paw, asking for assistance up, while grabbing the last little thing from the wagon: a thin, gleaming rolled wire frame. "We're gonna have to get comfy somewhere relatively close. Roll this back out, line the walls and ceiling with it, it should act as a faraday cage. They might get muffled words from other rooms, but that's it. My associates have been instructed that if I'm not out of here by the end of five minutes, that they should take my car and drive it back to my coffee shop."

"So, if you don't mind," They note, "I'll also need a ride to the nearest hellavator."

In a sense, they're happy that she's so excited to be looking for everyone's opinions. It brought to mind that little happiness they got, back in they day, when they were meeting at dive bars and, at one point, a rented-out dojo back when they grew a little too big for Amber Gold. Everyone talking, everyone chipping in. Taking solace in shared misery and discontent.

It also, however, made them feel like they should protect this precious thing with tooth and claw if needs be. What happened there, doesn't get to happen again.

Uppies!! Emberlynn skipped over eagerly and dropped to a knee, held a hand to her chest and offered her other to Peet to take. The picture of grace!! Of romance!!! GUH, this gesture was such a GOOD one, it was giving her script ideas--

Wah!! Later, Ember!!!

"We can make that happen!! Betty has a car and she usually doesn't mind driving us," she cooed in agreement, getting back up and taking the mesh in hand. Wow, there's a lot of it, but probably less than one would expect!

"Okay! Let's try the basement room - that one has the wall tiles to dampen echoes anyway so there's hooks and stuff. I'll ask everyone to huddle in!"

"Sounds good." They say, wheeling the wagon along with them. They take a look around. I mean, yeah, the expected smells are, in fact, there. But, like. Everyone's happy? That's a change.

Huh.

Peet follows along, folding their arms and looking... Maybe a bit pensive? Tense?

Emberlynn, in the meantime, was... a lot. She'd been relatively subdued in the privacy of the little room, but once she started bouncing around the building, she was cheerfully calling for a meeting downstairs.

"Come on! We're gonna vote on something! Where's Slade-- ohhhh, Slade~!" she practically moaned the guy's name. One of the Sinners looked up - he was one of the bigger guys and from the looks of it, his feathers and scales had been oiled up to be shiny and 'sweaty' for a filmed scene. Given he looked like some weird reptile-ish, bird-ish dragon thing... well, there was no wonder what his Appeal was in films. In fact, he'd recently been in a rendition of Beauty and the Beast in one of Emberlynn's productions, come to think of it--

"Uh, what's up, Ember?" the Sinner asked, taking the mesh that she held up to him and watching as the cat Sinner herself started fawning. With the way it looked like his tongue was actually a mass of tentacles...

"You're our tall daddy, can you help widdle ol' me put the mesh on the ceiling~? I pwomise I'll be your good little kitten--"

"CHILL, Ember. Yeah, I got it," Slade chuckled, apparently quite used to her antics. No one else in the studio seemed perturbed by her either - she was just Like That, shamelessly. Admirable.

After everyone shuffled into the basement room and helped pin up the mesh, getting it all settled in a few minutes, Emberlynn bounced into the middle and spoke up.

"Okay!! Hi everyone!! This is Peet Mossu-dono, they have a really nice offer for us so we should vote on it and ask questions and stuff! Mossu-dono wants to 'buy out' our studio and offer contracts and jobs and stuff--"

"Contracts?" a nervous (literal) horse girl asked, already getting antsy - it was a common feeling in the room.

"Oh, no, not like that! Not with the capital 'D' Deal!" Emberlynn reassured in a chipper tone, immediately soothing over the energy in the room.

...

FUCK.

Okay that was a hell of an intro, recover, recover. Pull it together, be honest, acknowledge their feelings, trust your eyes, next steps.

Peet slowly blinks, chuckling a bit. "Reminds me of the theater kids down in Lust." They chuckle dryly. "Uh, yeah. I'm Peet. Peet Moss. So, I'm not here to buy you out, I'm here to buy in. I want you to make more movies, more shows, and I'm willing to pay for them, and I'm going to debut them on my network. Instead of being there just on Voxtech, I'm making a private company that broadcasts all over hell, all seven layers, specializing in streaming services. As for the work, think of it like a higher budget set of commissions like you'd get from Crafty Devils, in advance with a few more strings attached."

"Now, I know that you don't just do smut, you like a little drama with your porn. Strings attached being, you broaden it out a little further. Comedies, dramas, thrillers, action movies, Satan, if we can make it happen, we could do some documentaries. And if sex happens, or if sex is the event, I'm not gonna be a prude about it. I grew up in Pride, I went to school in Lust. Do what makes good shows. But know, we're making shows for everybody. Hellborn and sinner. Another string attached being I have a couple of businesses that will do merch for you all and will post up physical advertisements, posters, eating mats, and you run a few ads for some of my businesses, Peetza Pie, Fair Trade, Chirotech Medical Services, that sort of thing."

"Any questions so far?"

Edited 2025-05-16 17:29 (UTC)

Ooohhh... writing dramas, romances, that sounds fun too...!! And some of the other writers Emberlynn's been working with lately kept asking for help on the sexy parts, so they might like that...!

"Yeah - what are you getting out of it?" a more cynical-sounding Sinner asked. That... that was Tiffany Titfucker. And from the cautious stare she gave the little bat, it wasn't hard to figure out why she was being cautious - she'd just gotten out from under Valentino's thumb.

"What happens if Voxtech starts getting even more angry with us...? I always figured we were so small-fry he only sometimes tries to shoot up the studio," a more timid sheep asked, frowning severely.

"We don't even die for good so who cares about that shit? As long as they can't get our souls, who gives a fuck what Voxtech wants?" a catty humanoid woman with a scorpion tail scoffed, "This sounds great. Hit that massive asshole right in the ego - can't get our souls, can't kill the biz, and now we don't even have to use his stupid platform."

"Good points!! Things 're gonna get REAL rough and rumble, but I think it'll be okay!" Emberlynn chirped with excitement. "Mossu-dono said there's even other jobs that don't have to be porn or creative or stuff if you guys want a break here either! I thought that was nice!" It was Tiffany Titfucker that most immediately nodded in thought, brows raised in interest. Hmmm...! "Ehehehe... I can't resist writing about my favorite passions, though... this place isn't hell, it's heaven."

"Yeah, okay, Ember," a couple of the other people chuckled, rolling their eyes.

...

Recovery achieved. Also, Satan, Tiffany has an on-the-nose name.

"Well. I get part of a subscription fee, if the shows end up being popular, we could talk about a license deal where your studio starts getting percentages for any further movies or shows. But, more importantly, I get to get my name out there. Instant popularity for a bunch of businesses that need a lot of attention, fast. You all get the credit for putting on a good show. But I get the credit for putting it on a network to begin with. That network becomes where Emberlynn Studios work is hosted. Emberlynn Studios work gets eyes. That amount of attention can get me, personally, places."

A thin little smile creeps up their cheeks. "And making Hell a little better by tweaking Mammon's and Vox's nose? And I don't need to be a known entity myself to do it? That... That puts a little smile on my face, I'm not going to lie."

They entertain the thought for a little while, before clearing their throat. "Oh, right. Uh, part of the deal is that you don't really talk about who I am to outside folks unless I give you permission. As far as anyone else needs to be concerned, I'm a big, scary demon that eats people that lives in the Lust circle. And, at least until they start throwing tanks around and start pissing all the turf holders off, I set up some defenses around the area that should at least short term do the trick to discourage them from interrupting us. They were on their way to attack this place today, but I gave them several, pointed, roughly 20mm reasons they should probably go home."

They sigh. "Right, so. We're just about done, we're going to go into what I think is the most unpopular part of the contract, and then we can juggle specifics. Any more questions before we dive into it?"

"What's the revenue split? The best part of this deal is everyone gets a cut so we don't have to whore out in the streets," Tiffany griped.

"Well, have to, hehe," the sheep giggled a bit, the rest of the room chuckling in agreement.

"Yuppers - we've been putting stuff under my name and stuff 'cause it's easier but really, this is everyone's project! We just wanna make the best hentai we can. But the money Mossu-dono offered up front can help cover us for a while, even down here, right?"

"Hmm, and then talking about licensing... okay..." another mumbled in thought, nodding along, more sold on the idea. Everyone was trying to be much more tempered (even Emberlynn, though she may not seem it), but there was a subtle excitement floating in the room amongst everyone.

"I won't pretend that I know your personal revenue percentages, but I do imagine roughly 50% to 70% of the budget of each film, after the 500 mill going into tech and building costs, going to set up aforementioned new tech in the circles will go to crew and crew costs. I'd recommend Emberlynn start opening a new studio under her umbrella to focus on animated stuff, which as we know are a little cheaper to make, maybe get some indies their shot."

They did their research getting into this. Peet's offering some high-end-ass money. If they budget it correctly, a few of these could be not just high-end, but blockbuster films on par with the human equivalents Frozen, Avengers, Avatar, but more likely smartly funded films like Deadpool and John Wick.

"I know what I'm offering here, we're talking big league money. I'm wondering if everyone here is going to be okay with getting into big league stuff."

"Now," They note, clapping their hands. "The unpopular bit. I was also planning on opening up channels between the Loup Garou Investments umbrella and Emberlynn studios. That means that if you want to work with my marketing team, my stock market team, if you just really want to get into my pizza joints, or high-value housekeeping and mercenary services, if you have had enough of the show business or just want to get out of it for a while or just don't have scripts going your way yet, I'm opening up. I will get you educated if you need it." They suck on their teeth. "The hard part being, if you do decide to go with it, if you have made Soul deals with Emberlynn, they will probably have to transfer to me to avoid conflicts of interest. I am willing to put myself under a blood bind so you will believe me when I say that is not the point of what I am doing, but you deserve to not have that sprung on you. If you really just want to get out of this altogether, outside of the non-disclosure clause, there's even a clause in here that, after a stay at the Hazbin Hotel primarily to get clean and get your head together, you're free."

There was definitely a tension in the room about the mention of soul deals, but the ripple effect wasn't as dramatic as it might've been - trauma or not, they'd already entrusted their souls in Deals to Emberlynn so far. She'd upheld her end of the bargain, the same for everyone - she 'owns' their soul so no other Overlord can force the Sinners to signing up for a shitty Deal, and Emberlynn gets to use any power she gets from having a Deal to bail herself out of trouble.

So the idea of transferring... not completely off the table. They just didn't know who they were dealing with, yet.

"What all do you do with souls? Aren't you Hellborn, if you can go up and down the layers?"

"Well, things might be different... they say Alastor and Dante have been spotted in other layers of Hell, and the Exorcists are dead, maybe things are--"

"Okay, don't count your angel chickens before they hatch, Slade. Plus the devil hates us so there's no way we'd get privileges. The radio demon probably got that by blackmailing the devil with his daughter's soul and Dante probably got it by keeping the deaths at an all time low for the last two Purges."

"Wait, wasn't Dante the reason that those fuckers got mad and came down to kill us even faster in the first place?"

"I'm pretty sure Velvette was the Vee that STARTED that rumor, I don't trust--"

"Guys! We're getting a little sidetracked!" Emberlynn clapped and called, tail swishing.

... Wow, that was a lot of misconceptions in one block of time.

"I mean, yeah. I'm Hellborn. I don't really want Souls, but I only get the one life regardless of what I do. If I'm killed, I don't come back. And while I went to Lust to go to high school, I grew up in Pride. My adopted mom was a sinner. This whole meeting is a massive display of trust on my part - I don't have a plan if this goes south and you all kill me. You won't see one red soul if you do, but you could do that." They sigh. "That being said, I can understand if you all still are a little hesitant to trust a Hellbat from what happened in the 1400's. That situation wasn't my fault, but, yeah. Sorry."

"The reason," They lean forward. "Is largely the same reason I'm guessing Emberlynn insists: your protection and mine. If you are forced into a situation where someone is after my little secret, you won't be able to respond back. There won't be any point in trying, which protects you as much as it does me. It's even a little more safe when you think about it - Voxtech can't directly come and see me in Lust, which means that your Souls are vaulted off even more."

They gesture, "It would require a degree of communication with Emberlynn and myself, but I don't even plan on the transferal process even being particularly hard. I'd appreciate a two-week heads up, as much as she would, but all I plan on being required is that you're down to transfer it back to Ember, and she's down to receive it, and vice versa."

...

"Oh," They grin a little. "And while we're on the aside, Dante wasn't the reason they decided to kill you further. That was Vee propaganda. He's actually a contractor of mine. If you're actually curious, I could ask him politely to explain the situation to you personally, and from my little connection in the Hotel, the situation that let the Radio Demon down was probably a bit more amicable than a blackmail situation and probably a lot more petty. It's not my place to say much more."

Edited 2025-05-17 05:01 (UTC)

"Holy shit, the bat's got CONNECTIONS," Tiffany laughed, impressed. "Sure, the deal sounds good to me. I'm ready to vote."

"The Radio Demon... that means... where my beloved Lucifer has been toiling away, deeply dedicated to his new wife even while mourning his old, putting on a strong face for his daughter! Ugh!!" Emberlynn clutched at her chest, falling to her knees, her eyes watering juuuust a bit. "We were never meant to be... but that radiant smile on his face.......!!!"

Everyone shakes their head and rolls their eyes. "Ember says that she had a thing with Lucifer, but no one really believes her," the sheep quietly whispered to Peet.

"Madhuri... a strange and mysterious woman, but she is elegant and strong-willed, of COURSE all of Hell would fall in love with her--!"

"Ember, come on, foooocus," Tiffany snapped her fingers.

"R-right! Eto, bleh, gomenasai... ahem. Okay!! Show of hands if we're in favor of seeing the contract Mossu-dono writes out for everyone!"

Emberlynn raised her own hand, and the majority of the room did as well - there were a few stragglers.

"Opposed?"

Only one, and the other stragglers just made uncertain wobbly hand gestures. "I know we can bail before this, just... I dunno, I like our small operation."

"Aww! I like you guys too!!! I promise I won't be any different!"

"I mean, it's not like we're going to be fundamentally different people, and it's not like there won't be studios under this umbrella that's going to be doing smaller-scale stuff. I love indie stuff, and I love how Emberlynn works with her cast. I want more of it, and the way to get that is through patronage."

...

Although, this is the first that I've heard Madhuri is the one that Lucifer's head over heels with. It... Makes sense, actually. Shit, he trusts me with his FIANCEE! What an honor!

Peet feels a warm feeling on their cheeks, between that and the sheer majority of people that were into the idea before shaking it off. "Right! I can get going right away getting contracts printed out, I'll need Ember's help with the specifics. I will make it my life's goal to make sure you guys don't regret this decision!"

"We'll make GREAT contracts!!! You guys can tell me stuff you wanna make super sure are in there, and no one's GOTTA sign, promise!" Emberlynn encouraged, and the crowd seemed settled and interested.

"Okay!! Tiffu-chan, can we borrow your car to drive Mossu-dono to the Hellevators?"

Tiffany Titfucker rolled her eyes and shook her head, "I'll drive you. I'm not trusting you with the car after the condition you brought it back in last time, Em."

Ooh, a phone call? Customer, maybe.

Blitzø pauses to pluck little Ollie off of his horn, sitting the fussy nephew on his knee so he could answer the phone. "Yyyyello? Blitzø of I.M.P. here," he greeted.

Oh, hey. Perfect.

"Oh, great. Right place. Hey, I'm a representative of Loup Garou Investments, I'm calling on behalf of a job opportunity in the Greed district. It should be an easy enough job, but I'm not going to bullshit you and necessarily say there's no risk involved. I'm kind of getting some heavy hitters together to run a scavenging op, I was wondering if you have anyone there that knows something about computers or unconventional entry methods. Destructive is okay, as long as it isn't rampantly destructive. We have that covered."

Blitzø clicked his tongue and leaned back, letting Ollie gnaw on his coat once he made sure there weren't any buttons he could choke on.

"Yeah we don't really deal in taking jobs in Hell here at IMP anymore, 'specially not since the last one caused a little clusterfuck."

Greed, huh. Actually--

"Hey, you're not associated with that Crim guy, right?"

"Ah, damn."

There's a pause, as they try to go through their head, every nickname that Toofy Tuskerton III, esq. might have. And they have determined, no, that's not one of them.

"Nah, don't know anyone named Crim. Not off the top of my head, at least. He a ganger or something?" They shake their head. "Nah, really bad experience with Greed gangers. Wouldn't ask you to deal with them. No, I was hoping to pay you to steal from one of Mammon's abandoned projects." There's another pause, and Blitz can hear the voice on the phone wonder aloud, does that even count as theft anymore?

"Huh. Well you at least sound like you're not bullshitting me. Stealing from a ditched Mammon site, huh..."

That fuckin slob probably would want to cling to stuff until it sold even if he ditched it... but thinking over how the big green asshole fucked Fizz's life up so long...

"Y'know what, what the hell. IMP's off the table but I could fuck around and find out," he offered with a chuckle. No way he was dragging M&M down there with ol' dad around, that might get Ollie in the crosshairs - nope, Ollie was gonna stay perfectly safe and sound in Pride.

...As safe as Pride could be. Safer than where Crim might be snooping. Whatever.

"I still owe that oversized Sinsmas tree dickweed a few 'fuck you's for fuckin' with Fizz anyway."

"Oh, this'll, uh. Definitely be doing that. Great! Gonna request that we don't talk shop over the phone. Job's 25 grand if things go well, 100 grand if things require hazard pay."

Then a little bit more serious in tone. "Take that as my way of saying that there's a non-zero chance that this could get dangerous. If you're not cool with that, feel free to skip the meeting. If you are, I'm staging a meeting at Tally's Diner over at Greed, over by Dollars and Sense, over in the old Corporate district, next monday at eleven in the morning."

"Eh, took on the feathery bitches, I can take on some bullshit security. Mind if I drag a buddy along? He hasn't seen any action for a hot minute since he doesn't work my biz proper," Blitzø asked with a shrug. "Dante's cool, don't gotta worry about him fucking up."

"Oh hey, small world. Yeah, I was thinking of calling him after. Saves me the time. To be clear, you're talking about red coat Dante, right?"

"Yeah, red coat, red scales, pretty fuckable? That one. He and I go back," Blitzø chuckled. Technically their time in Reverein wasn't that long ago, but hey, Blitzø is one of the people in Hell that's known Dante the longest around here.

"I'll see if I can pry him off his Lady friend long enough to fuck around. It'll be fun."

"Oh. Alright, yeah. Thanks. Tally's Diner, Greed, eleven in the morning, Monday."

Click.

...

Peet taps their claws on the table, just staring at the phone.

"Dante fucks?"

They stare into space for a second.

"Huh. Dante fucks."

[Its been an interesting past set of months for the Sinner. And blah blah blah. Insert some inspirational mumbo jumbo about him soul searching and finding what it meant to be him after not being under the moth's thumb anymore. While in reality, yeah sure, there was a bit of that, but mostly it was Angel doing whatever the fuck he wanted. Which right now was whipping something up for breakfast in he kitchen of the Hazbin Hotel.

Standing in front of the stove, the spider was busy humming away as he was cooking up what looked to be an omelet. On the counter beside him were other bowls with toppings that were yet to be added to the pan. He was too wrapped up in what he was doing to notice he was not alone anymore.]

[Fine by Alastor - he hovered in the doorway for a spell, fondly wondering what song caught the lad's mind this morning. After a bit to figure out that ritzy little tune, the radio in the other room popped to life to play it.

Alastor himself approached, reaching around and over Angel's head to pull out a spice jar, setting it with a delicate clack on the counter.]

If you want to give it a little kick.

[Cayenne, paprika, oregano, some hell pepper... it's a spice blend he's been fond of lately.]

It was very important to support one's friends in their dreams.

Also, Denji was a really good cook.

Both these things in mind, Sol had taken some time to wander down to where he'd parked his truck for the day, eyes on scoring some enchiladas, which were always well-received.

They'd also selected a time when the 'lunch rush' had long ended, since of course- they also wanted to socialize with a very dear friend.

To which end, they announced their presence by knocking on the side of the truck- and a moment later, setting a cup of that most cherished of culinary treasures- bubble tea- on the counter. "Hi Denji! I have come bearing- oh! Not Denji. Um. Hi!"

Ooh, cool horns. Poppy waved from behind the window counter, on her step-stool so she could actually properly attend the register and grill.

"He'll be right back! Denji's gone for a restock - I can probably get something started for you, the only thing we're out of right now is the guacamole!"

The mental contact list reported- and Sol's eyes widened, as they snapped their fingers. "Oh- hang on. Um. Cheese enchiladas for me with the rice and beans, please~"

After a moment's thought, they set another cup on the counter. "You can have one, too, actually, since Denji isn't here. I'll just get mine on the way back. You're Poppy, right? I don't think we've met, but Denji's talked about you a lot and he's always really happy when he does. It's great to finally meet you!"

"That's me! It's nice to meet you - you must be a friend of Denji's too," Poppy greeted fondly, hooking her foot under the counter to scoot the stool to the griddle. Enchiladas are easy, especially a vegetarian one.

"Your horns are SO cool, by the way - they look like coral, almost! I snuck up top with Denji last summer and we went diving and got to see some gorgeous reefs, and you have such a summery vibe to you."

"Oh, yeah, from a few years back actually, he's an old friend- just ran into him again a few months ago and we've been catching up. I'd love to see those sometime, though, I've never been to ear- been up top. Only seen it in pictures!"

"It's definitely worth it if you can get the clearance to go!! It's gorgeous, even if the sun is great at giving you sunburn even through fur, hahah," she laughed, getting out a couple of tortillas and laying them on the griddle to warm as she filled them up. "Oh man, and the sea salt itch - DEFINITELY as bad as a dive in Envy or Greed, definitely don't skip the shower after!"

It was never certain how much Dante knew about Nautilus. He could actually be clueless about the whole thing and just happens to be okay with training them himself, if they wanted him to. He could know more than he let on and be tight lipped about it. If the latter were true, he at least wasn't telling anyone, so there was that.

There was one thing he knew for sure, though: there was something he wanted to give Poppy, in the same way he gave something to Mako a while back. He called her and asked to meet up somewhere open, like a rooftop. He wanted to share something in person with her, and insisted he wouldn't take up much time with it. Poppy has a busy schedule, far as he knows, and didn't want to keep her from it!

He had no problem coming down to Sloth for her convenience and could be found at the chosen rooftop, looking out towards Sloth as a whole. He shook his head with an amused smirk, thinking aloud.

"Never gonna get over how color coded the Rings are. Who would've thought Hell was so organized?"

"It's the magic from the Sins, they say," Poppy replied as she joined him on the rooftop, having gone up the ladder like any ordinary tiny hellhound. She came over and sat down next to him, looking at a floating island lightly tilting and dribbling water all over a few grumbling pedestrians and cars.

It was a little funny seeing someone SO brightly red down here - imps were red, of course, but the natural sheen to Dante's scales made him almost shine with the pink hues of the sky in the way the skin and scales of an imp didn't quite do.

"The Sins bring that much magic to their Rings, and their influence colors the world they built up out of the pitch darkness. It's an old story, one of a few ideas people have had trying to figure out Hell's ancient history... apparently Lucifer thought it would be funnier if he could convince the Sins to not spill the beans on what actually happened."

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Spring Catch-All

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Emberlynn / Blitzø

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1/2

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Alastor

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Lunchtime!

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Power up Poppy

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