Chapter Text
First Meeting.
Moxxie stifled a groan as he shuffled his position, readjusting his grip on the rifle, as he laid on the rooftop. Hours had passed since he tracked down the target, just waiting for them to be alone. The imp had only just recently moved to the Pride ring and unfortunately his music career just wasn’t making enough to pay the bills forcing him to put his gun skills to use. His current job was to take out a high class sinner without any witnesses. Said sinner was a bit of a recluse and rarely left without being surrounded by security, fortunately for Moxxie though they were attending a party tonight. Allowing him the perfect opportunity to snipe.
His luck seemed to have run out though, as his target’s companion for the night had yet to leave his side, much to the snipers frustration. Despite being in hell and knowing that any other demon would have simply taken the shot killing both the target and the witness, Moxxie didn’t like the idea of needlessly killing. Although a part of him was curious as to why the sinner kept a female imp as his partner for the night? The only explanation he could think of is that she was possibly a disguised bodyguard.
His heart raced as he noted the target excusing themselves from the group he was chatting with before heading off into an isolated room. This provided Moxxie with the best chance he had all night, he had just lined up his shot hand on the trigger ready to shoot as the female imp entered the room. He moaned angrily as dropping the shot, swearing under his breath. It had been hours and admitially his patience was wearing thin.
“Know what stuff it” Moxxie mumbled realigning his aim, deciding to go ahead and take the target out. Having the imp witness the act was less than desirable, but at the end of the day he knew how the other citizens of Hell viewed Imps, it would be easy to feign ignorance to her claims. His fingers were on the trigger seconds from shooting when suddenly his companion unexpectedly pulled out a knife and straight up stabbed his target in the back, literally, before slicing his neck open. Killing the Sinner almost instantly.
“What the fuck” Moxxie swore loudly as he pulled away from the scope in shock. His target was dead, just like that, his kill and therefore pay stolen right from underneath him. He watched on with an annoyed expression as the female who stole his kill was now panicking as she pulled at the window handles desperately failing to open or break them. Even from his vantage point Moxxie could see the closed doors creaking as what he could only assume security was on the other side trying to break in.
He had no idea why he did what he did, but to this day he would still say it was one of the best decisions in his life. With a long sigh he gripped his rifle once more and lined up a shot this time aiming and shooting at the windows lock, breaking the mechanism. Allowing the fellow assassin the chance to fling the window open.
With a confused look she turned his way and for a brief moment their eyes met, she sent him a sly smirk before blowing a kiss in thanks before leaping from the window and disappearing into the night. Moxxie starred on in puzzlement as he felt a warmth in his cheeks. Shaking his head rapidly to refocus, he didn’t have time to be puzzled, the shot had given away his position. Skillfully he made his way off the room, using the shadows to stay out of sight as he headed home. A part of him was already dreading confronting his employer about failing the hit, and not only did he allow someone else to take the kill but also helped them escape. At the very least he was glad that he made them agree to pay a finder fee for his services so he’s not left completely without pay.
With a heavy sign, Moxxie finally built up the confidence to enter the large building his employer resided in the next day. He hesitantly walked up to the receptionist, a fellow Imp who barely acknowledged his presence. This wasn’t the first time he had been hired by this sinner. Damon, the sinner who hired him, seemed to have made many enemies both from time alive and in Hell.
His head had an eerily fox-like appearance from his triangular long nose, yellowed eyes and pointed ears, the rest of his body still somewhat resemble that of a human, just with a more orange hue. He was a fan of the more subtle assassinations one where they couldn’t be traced back to him. Sniping had seemed to be his go to method, seeming impressed with Moxxie’s skills. Hence why Moxxie was worried that this failure had lost him a semi reliable source of income.
Loud angry shouting could be heard coming from the shut off door to his employers office, turning to the receptionist he opened his mouth to question but she beat him to it.
“Some hick from the Wrath ring is in there causing issues, you can wait or go in, doesn’t matter either way” The receptionist shrugged, showing little care for her work as she mindlessly tapped away at her computer.
‘Such unprofessionalism’ Moxxie judged, he was never able to understand how someone can be so laxed while working. Paying little head he decided to wait outside not wanting to be involved in whatever argument was taking place. However as he headed towards the seating in the small reception he couldn’t help but overhear parts of the veral fight.
“I fucking killed that no good sinner fair and square, I deserve my pay” A femine voice with a heavy country drawl yelled.
“Ha, I highly doubt some inbred Wrathian female such as yourself could take out Mace so easily” Damon’s voice taunted back with a hint of a dismissive tone.
Mace? Now that peaked Moxxie’s interest, Mace was the same sinner he was hired to kill. There was no way that Damon had hired them both was there? Curiosity got the best of the sniper as he made his way into the office.
A surprised look overtook his face as he saw that the feminie voice belonged to the same Imp from yesterday. Both of the imps' eyes widened as they immediately recongised one another.
The female didn’t even hesitate as she aggressively pointed at him.
“I was the one who killed that motherfucker and he can attest for me!” the women shouted glaring at the sinner.
“Unlikely missy, this guy here has been doing assassinations for me for at least a few weeks now, each time without fail” Damon gloated before sending her his own glare “You however missy are nothing more than some dumb hick trying to cheat her way into a free paycheck” advised.
“Umm actually sir” Moxxie started as he stepped forward but was abruptly cut off.
“What the fuck do you mean by dumb hick tryin to cheat ya” she growled gripping a knife that went unoticed by Damon “You hired me and I killed fair n sqaure now wheres my $2000”
‘
Wait Only $2000?
’ Moxxie found himself caught off guard, his agreed paycheck was essentially doubled that.
“Well obviously you were taking too long and forced me to hire someone else, so as far as I’m concerned you had already failed the job and I owe you nothing! Really don’t know what I expected from a women” Damon spat out harshly before leaning back into his chair “Now if you could do everyone a favour and vacate my office so I can settle payments with..whatever you name was again” merely brushed off sending the female a dismissive hand wave.
“Took too long!?” she shouted “You only hired me two days ago and I killed the target yesterday!” her grip on the hidden knife tightened as her body began trembling in anger.
“And your point is Missy” Damon taunted once more smiling.
“That's I’ve had enough of this sexism and racism, if you aren't gonna pay me then I’ll make you” she remarked pulling a knife out as she lunged forward fully intending to bury it in Sinner.
Moxxie’s body reacted before his brain could register his actions. Swiftly he grasped two of his guns, one in each hand. Aiming them directly at both the Sinner and fellow Imp.
‘Oh crumb, Oh crumbs, Oh crumbs’
Moxxie internally cursed his impulsiveness as he sweated heavily under the deadly looks he was receiving as all other actions paused and the room fell silent. Breathing in heavily he started formulating a plan.
Slowly Moxxie lowered the gun aimed at his employer before chancing a pleading look at the angry imp, hoping she would play along. He noticed the change in her stance and how her weapon was lowered as she glared at him, eyeing the gun, her grip loosening slightly as she noticed his hand wasn’t on the trigger.
“Umm, I was the one to kill them, so the payment is mine” Moxxie struggled to keep his voice steady and calm as he spoke, carefully transitioning his hold on the gun to his tail, freeing his hand. Begging he can finish before she attempts to kill him.
She remained still and silent, her hold once more tightening, raising the weapon slightly. An insulted and disgusted look crossed her face at his words.
“Ha I knew it, Wrathian scum are always trying to take from those who earned it” Damon mocked as he happily pulls out a stack of bills, from corner of Moxxie’s eye he can see the shock face of said imp at how much he was getting paid. Moxxie cautiously accepted the money as he started counting.
“Thank you sir, now to clarify this is mine to do with what I want?” He questioned carefully.
“Of course, it’s all yours now”the Sinner brushed off without a second thought.
“Ok” Moxxie acknowledged pulling out a few notes, enough to cover his finders fee. Lowering his gun he turned to the female, offering the rest to her.
“I believe this is yours”
She stood there for a few seconds as if not comprehending his actions. Slowly and hesitantly she accepted the money.
“Hey what the fuck are you doing!, you can’t give her my money” Damon shouted looking disgusted.
“To clarify sir you told me I was free to do what I wanted with it” Moxxie started, “This may be Hell, but that isn’t an excuse to be sexiest nor racist, it's a rather poor business move” He continued bravely.
“This lady here, did in fact take the target out, quite skillfully if I may add. If you had simply believed her, it could've saved you a fair amount of money” He finally finished, heading towards the door, ignoring how pissed the sinner looked. “Oh by the way Sir, I’m from Wrath and I would rather not work for someone who views my home Ring so poorly anymore” Moxxie stated slamming the door as he left, leaving his ex employer alone in the room with the enraged female.
The moment he left the office Moxxie immediately felt his legs turn to jello, as panic started to settle in.
‘Shit,shit,shit’
he continuously internally swore as he rushed out the building, doing his best to keep his anxiety at bay, with little success. What had he just done? Why did he do that? What if his employer sends someone after him now? What if the other imp hunts him down, angry that he held her at gunpoint.
Moxxie was a mess, he was bumping into sinners and hellborn left and right as he all but ran through the streets. There were just too many people here, he felt crowded. Salvation came as he spotted an entrance to an alley. He quickly slipped into the side street, calming slightly at the instant change of atmosphere, he was the only one present.
“It’s ok, you’re ok” Moxxie whispered to himself repeatedly as he took a seat on the cement and leaned against the wall as his panic began to quell.
The poor sniper had only just managed to get his breathing back under control, when he heard someone approaching, moments before a shadow began overlooking him. Glancing upwards fear spiked once more when he saw the female imp once more, only this time covered in blood.
“Shit” Moxxie swore loudly as he jolted upwards, hands quickly moving to his jacket reaching for one of his pistols, despite his determination to reach a weapon the trembling in his hands made gripping the gun difficult.
“Woah woah, hey hey calm down there, I’m not gonna hurt you” She quickly states, holding up her hands and tail up showing no weapons, looking on in surprise and shock. This is not what she was expecting upon tracking him down. His whole demeanor was so different to what it was back in that office.
Moxxie stared silently as he absorbed her words, tension left his body as he relaxed once more, accepting that she wasn’t a threat to him. Relief filled him as he let out a long breath and leaned back against the wall once more. He glanced to his side as he took note of the other hellborn taking a seat next to him.
“I just wanted to say thanks, for what you did for me back in that office, and for the window” She spoke not looking at him as he shrugged, still in the process of collecting himself.
“You were the one that killed the target, you deserved to get paid” Moxxie casually replied as he eyed his companion, he was not used to others being grateful to him.
“Still, you could’ve easily accepted money and left” She stated, raising an eyebrow as Moxxie chuffed.
“Nah, I feel like if I even tried that, you wouldv’e killed me the first chance you got” Moxxie exclaimed eyeing her up and down before continuing “and from the looks of it you already took care of our employer” He finished earning a dry laugh.
“Ehhh I would've only killed you a little, that is if you didn’t shoot me first, I may not know much about guns but I know skill when I see it” She joked “Anddd yeaaah I may have let my emotions get the best of me and a certain bastard may not be around anymore” she admitted earning an embarrassed blush from the male at the compliment.
“I’m Mildred by the way, although I prefer folks to call me Millie” Mille greeted as she offered her hand to Moxxie, one that he happily accepted.
“Moxxie” was his simple reply as their hands shook.
“Moxxie..huh, gotta say it’s quite a fitting name, judging from the way you acted back there you certainly have a lot of it” Millie smirked in a playful manner receiving an awkward smile in return.
“Heh, well if I’m being honest I really have no clue what I was thinking back there. I mean I barely ever act or talk like that” Moxxie admitted as he looked away embarrassingly rubbing his neck.
“Well if it helps, I’m really glad you did” Millie acknowledged, her tone soft and sweet, before a small frown formed as she thought back to the words said in the office. “Did that bastard really not know that you were from Wrath? I mean you’re legs are practically a dead giveaway, don’t exactly see Imps from other Rings with digitigrade legs”
“Yea..I was surprised as well, especially how he was insulting Wrathian imps in front of me, but really can’t expect much from sinners, they don’t exactly care for imps in general” Moxxie stated with a sad sign, earning a hum of agreement from Millie.
“I’m sorry that you lost an employer over me” Millie aplogised shocking Moxxie, he had gotten so used to others treating him poorly and abusive that to have someone actually treat him nicely and aplogised to him? It Was all so new and sent a little flutter in his heart.
“Don’t concern yourself too much. I never would have worked for him if I had known how shitty he actually was, besides I wasn’t lying, you were really impressive when you stabbed the target, although maybe you should work on your escape plans a bit more” Moxxie praised before teasing her completely oblivious to Millie’s blushing as she faked a hurt laugh.
“Oh ha ha… I just wasn’t expecting the windows to be jammed shut. That was a pretty
badarse shot you did and from that distance to, heh I must say without even trying we made a pretty good team” Millie smiled as complimented the sniper, a smile that only grew as she noticed the traces of red on his face before he turned away looking flustered.
“Yea, yea we did make a good team” he grinned back, feeling oddly relaxed by her presence.
“Welp, It’s getting late and I’m getting rather famished” Millie started as she stood up stretching before offering Moxxie a hand, which he gladly accepted, finding himself rather taken aback at the amount of strength in her arm as she pulled him up.
Millie nervously looked away before speaking again. “Well I don’t know about you but I recently found myself receiving a much larger paycheck than expected, and I don't really feel like eating alone tonight…soo would you care to join me Moxxie?” she offered, tail twitching nervously as she noticed they were still holding hands.
“Oh..umm..I” Moxxie nervously stumbled over his words, not expecting the offer at all. Everything about this whole interaction was so new to him, to have a stranger show him such kindness was nowhere near what he was used to. As badly as he wanted to accept the offer, he wasn’t sure if he could afford a night out, especially since he missed out on getting paid. His words trailed off as he stared at their connected hands. Thankfully Mille had noticed how he hesitated with a longing look.
“It'll be my shout of course, think of it as my way of saying thanks. Besides I’m still new to pride and don’t really know anyone here, so it’ll be nice to have a friend” She added, tightening her grip on his hand in encouragement. Moxxie only had to look once into her hopeful begging eyes for any resolve he had to melt away as a smile took over his face.
“Yea, I’ll be honored to join you tonight” He agreed before chuckling at Millie’s visible excitement and cheer as she led him out of the alleyway, the two of them animiativily talking as they walked along the streets of Hell.
If only they knew what had truly just begun.