A Reintroduction part 2

from /hhg/ Helluva Hotel general #680
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>"Well, you never know it with him." Stretch called out, as he picked up trays from another table "He can be rather... Recalcitrant."
>"...That's one way of putting it." the hooded figure muttered
>Loona's ear twitched
>"You sound familiar." she stated, bluntly

>the figure turned around, revealing to be wearing a balaclava under his hood
>he was green as well, but with a noticeable stubble
>Moxxie's eyes lit up
>"Wait... Weren't you our client?"
>the man nodded
>"Дa. I even equipped you for the job."
>"Did you seriously hire THEM?" THESE clowns?" Zagreus asked, giving them the once-over "...And you sent them to fking AFGHANISTAN?!"

>"It was simple hit job." the Slav replied "I gave their gunman the equipment, and helped him get over the mountains..."
>"Right... Only for then to suddenly change your heart, and turn the whole damn mission into a wild goose chase." the red figure nodded, sarcastically "Fking hell, what is with your eurofgs, with your bleeding hearts?"
>"He had a family." came the angry reply "AND it wasn't for nothing. They did get BTR out of it!"
>he then turned towards the imps
>"By the way, what did you do with that?"
>"We couldn't find a parking spot for it, so the boss dropped it off at Stolas' estate..." Millie explained

~Miles away, months ago~
>"THE FK IS THIS?!" Stella shrieked, making her husband flinch
>and she had some reason to be angry
>occupying the center of their garage (and thus, blocking the way for their own carriages) was a gormless, worn-down, eight-wheeled military vehicle
>it's turret had scraped a divot into the ceiling
>"It's... An armored personnel carrier, I believe..." Stolas replied, sheepishly, only to be shrieked at again:
>"Don't try to play smart with me! What's it doing in our garage?!"
>"...Parking?"
>"GAH! You--!"
>Stella took a deep breath
>"...Lemme guess... It's from your little imp boyfriend, isn't it?!"
>"...Uh..."
-
>Stella was smiling at him
>that, in on itself, was scary
>"...And you just decided to let him park it in MY spot, didn't you?"
>"...Uh...!"
>"Well, I sure hope you LIKE your new fighting vehicle..." the swan demoness replied, as her smile morphed into a snarl "BECAUSE YOU'RE FKING SLEEPING IN IT UNTIL YOU GET RID OF IT!"
>Stolas could only sigh

~Back to the present~
>"I thought you left for that whatchamacallit... That, uh..."
>Blitzo snapped his fingers, trying to remember the place
>"I did." the former soldier replied "Met these guys." he motioned towards the others
>"And now, you work together..." Blitzo finished "Lovely little story, to bad it's bullsht. Tell me the truth!"
>and he eyed the red one suspiciously
>"Are you bodyguarding his "majesty", or something?"
>"Nah, we're just making sure Charlie's precious "cousin" doesn't end up sullying the family name anymore." Stretch replied, from across the diner "Wouldn't to dig his sorry ass from his own sht again."
>"Wait, is HE with you guys as well?" Moxxie asked, sticking a thumb towards their waiter
>"Yup." Bronson replied "We're also waiting for his shift to end, and then, we'll be heading home."
>"Did you guys bring my car?" the blanche figure asked
>"Yeah. Bratislav brought it here." Zagreus replied, before muttering "Only he knows how to drive the bloody Trabant..."
>"Spasibo, drgy." Stretch called out, to which the aforementioned just nodded back in acknowledgement
>there was a moment of silence

>"...So... How does he know Valentino?"
>the men stirred, and looked at Moxxie
>"You were talking about him, right?"
>getting some idle nods, the imp tilted his head
>"Huh. How does he know him?"
>his eyes suddenly widened with alarm
>"...Don't tell me he visits this place!"
>"Like HEAVEN he does!" the chef called out from the kitchen "This is a RESPECTABLE establishment! No louses like him allowed!"
-
>"Stretch does a lot of odd jobs." Keys explained, causing the others to jump
>they've completely forgotten about him
>"He's absolutely fking loaded, for some reason, and has a LOT of connections. Knows a lot of people."
>the figure shrugged
>"Doesn't do much with it, but sometimes, he dedicates time, money and effort to helping randos like her." and he motioned towards Loona "Just... Random acts of kindness, I guess. Guy's lonely."
>"Pretty fly for an Ass-pie." put in Zagreus, earning an elbow to his ribs from Bratislav
>however, the green figure on the other side of the table began to stir
>quite similar to the guy he addressed as "Sum", almost a color inversion of him, with a dark suit, white shirt and red tie to complement his own skin
>he stopped nursing his head, if only for a bit, as he called out with a jeer:
>"Trust some out-of-touch leftoid to obsess over the first homeless bitch he simp to..."
>Stretch, who was busy at the counter, glared
>"Rather be a leftoid than the Gestalt of a basement dwellers' "No Girls Allowed!" club, personified!" he shot back, returning to his work

>"...Wha'?" was all Blitzo could say, and the others shared his sentiment
>"They have these little spats." the Slav sinner explained "They get into arguments, Chan starts leading him on, Stretch takes it way to seriously, and then just says something that's meant to use Chan's own logic against him, and it just gets vicious from there."
>"They never come to blows or anything." Bronson added "It's just a debater trying to beat a baiter..."
>"M'not even baiting him, he's just being an autist about it!" the green man groaned
>"You're always baiting EVERYONE, you irony-poisoned FK!" the lanky one snapped
>"...And you keep falling for it!"
>"Well, EXCUSE ME for trying to have proper discussions with you! Honestly, now that you're ACTUALLY one person, why don't you try to fking ACT like one, instead of a reply bot imitating a 12-year-old with abandonment issues!"
-
>"Need a screen for that projection?"
>"Go fk yourself!"
>"What's the matter, it's only a bit of trolling, friend :^)"
>"TROLLS ARE FKING SUBHUMAN!"


>the diner sat in stunned silence around them
>silence, which grew awkward
>Stretch scowled furiously, before turning away, and stomping back to do whatever
>Chan stared after him, his expression somewhere between disappointment and astonishment, and then kept nursing his head

>"...Like so." Bratislav mused
>"Trust us, there's no love lost or gained between them." Bronson added "Just wait for it..."

>Chan suddenly let out a louder, more pained-sounding groan
>Stretch stopped with a jolt, and immediately began to walk back to their booth
>"Out of painkillers?" he asked
>"Chan" just groaned
>the lanky figure then reached up to his face, pressing on the dot of the question mark
>it let out a plastic-sounding click, which was followed by a dry hiss from his chest - debatable if the sound of pneumatics or just friction -, as a small door opened up on it
>reaching into it, he rifled through stuff which clattered loudly, before pulling out a tiny paper box, and shutting the door with a beep-like *plink!*
>"All I have is Algoflex..." he muttered, pulling out a plastic leaf, filled with oblong, pink pills "I can check the first aid kit, though..."
>"Just give me those pills." the green man groaned, and quickly began to pop them out of their aluminum-covered plastic pockets
>"Ill ask the chef if we have anything." the blanche figure continued, walking away from the table
>Chan just nodded, and downed a handful of pills, followed by the mug of drink he was having

>"One thing you were right about..." Bratislav mused, looking at Zagreus "He is a bleeding heart."
>"Like I said, they never come to blows." Bronson added "In fact, they don't actually like to see the other hurt. Stretch is the one who keeps an emergency stock of painkillers for him."
>"Why does he need them?" Millie asked
-
And this is where I'll end it for now.