Moxxie and Blitzo were just as upset as Millie was when they returned to the house and discovered that Alastor had ran off instead of being abducted.
"Damn it!" Blitzo raged to Moxxie and Millie. "I told you two that the little runt wasn't kidnapped! I told you that he would come back alright! But no, you insisted that he must've been taken so you forced me out in that storm where I spent the entire night freezing my ass off!"
He turned to Alastor next.
"And you! You little brat! You know not to leave the house when we're gone! Why the hell did you do that?"
"I felt the urge to go hunting." Alastor responded.
"So? Sometimes I feel the urge to piss on the first thing I see but I don't do it!"
"Probably because you wouldn't want anyone to know how small that particular organ is." Alastor said smugly.
"Alastor!" Millie scolded.
"Alright that's it! You rotten little urchin!" Blitzo's hand moved to his pants. "Bend over! I'm going to take a belt right to your backside!"
"Blitzo I forbid you to treat him that way!" Millie said shielding the boy protectively. "And you young man, why would you use such crude language? You're normally so polite."
"Well I always figured that the crude only understood crude language." Alastor said.
"Oh I'll show you crude!" Blitzo snarled.
"Sir please calm down." Moxxie said. "Remember that he's a child."
"Yeah a devil child!"
"Just take a deep breath. Keep in mind that he doesn't really mean any harm. And speaking of harm." Moxxie picked up the boy and proceeded to examine nearly every part of his body.
"Moxxie is this really necessary?" Alastor asked. "You know how I feel about being touched."
"Hey you were in a snow storm last night so anything could have happened. Now how do you feel? Do you feel sick? Feverish? Is your throat sore?
"No."
"Did you break anything? Do you feel blood rushing to your head?"
"No."
"Do you feel woozy?"
"No."
"How many fingers do you see me holding up?"
"Moxxie I'm fine."
"Answer the question!"
"Four."
"No! Something's wrong with you! See I have five-" But when he counted his fingers he realized that he was mistaken. "Four fingers? That's all I have?"
"Alps are four fingered dear." Millie said.
"Oh then you're okay. But what did you do for shelter last night?"
"I found a cottage and the woman who occupied it allowed me to stay the night."
"Really?" Millie said surprised. "You mean she wasn't afraid of you?"
"She was startled by my appearance at first but she quickly looked past it and pretty much saved my life."
"Thank goodness."
"Hmm...Didn't think that there were humans that compassionate." Blitzo huffed. "Normally the judge everything and everyone solely on looks."
"Not her and not her granddaughter that's for sure." Alastor almost sighed.
"She had children?" Millie inquired.
"Two granddaughters. They were my age. The younger one didn't exactly give me a warm welcome. In fact I'm certain that she was ready to sick her dog on to me. But the older one was an angel. She talked so sweetly to me and she even asked me to be her friend. She invited me to come visit her often."
"Oh?" Millie raised an eye brow and smirked. "And did she happen to be very pretty?"
"Uh..." He blushed and looked away. "She wasn't bad to look at."
"Well you called her an angel so I assume that you must find her to be very lovely."
"I meant that she was an angel because she was kind! That's all!"
Millie giggled.
"Oh look at you, going red in the face just like Moxxie did when we were young and he walked in on me bathing in the stream."
"Millie!" Now her husband was blushing.
"What? It's not like I didn't want you to walk in on me. Why do you think I always bathed in the stream that was outside your house?"
His blush intensified and he smirked shyly. Alastor shuddered in revulsion.
"Eww! Old people perversion."
"Hey we are not old." Moxxie said. "We're both only eighty-two."
Alastor just looked at them blankly.
"You're aging process really confuses me. I know how it works but it's really peculiar."
"So? Your species confuses me!" Blitzo said. "Why does your kind have to use everything for profit? Even other living things?"
"Huh? What are you talking about?"
Moxxie and Millie glared at Blitzo.
"Come, Alastor." She said gently pulling him along. "Let's getting started on your new chores while it's still early."
Once they were out of the house and not close enough to hear, Moxxie decided to have a little chat with his leader.
"Sir with all due respect, when are you going to stop this?"
"Stop what?" Blitzo asked feigning ignorance.
"You know what. Your treatment toward that boy. Ever since he's come into our lives, you've made your dislike of him obvious."
"Well Moxxie you know I never wanted to take him in. You think I'd actually be happy to have him here? He's disobedient, smart-mouthed, and likes to patronize me."
"I can understand your frustration with him. Hell, so can Millie. We know that he can be difficult but your frustration is for the wrong reasons."
"What does that mean?"
"We all know the real reason you look down on him. You're projecting those men on to him. But you know that what happened to you isn't Alastor's fault. He won't hurt you like they did. He's only a little boy."
"Boys grow up. They grow into men who get off on seeing creatures suffer."
"You don't know what Alastor will grow into and considering his appearance, neither do I. Between you and me, I think he might grow into an entirely different species. Don't ever tell Millie I said that."
"I just don't understand why we couldn't leave him at an orphanage when we found him?"
"Oh come now sir, you know what those places are like. They're barely a suitable shelter for rats let alone children. And besides you saw Millie's face that night when she was tending to his wounds. She always wanted children but our kind can't produce offspring and then out of the blew a boy with no family appears. As if he was some miracle child given to her by God."
"But he's not. We don't even know where the Hell he came from."
"And?"
"And considering who we found him with, that doesn't worry you?"
"Oh please, if I cared about that then Millie and I wouldn't have had anything to do with you. After all you're the one who has history with him."
"Fair point."
"Just try to give him a chance. You might even end up liking him."
"Not likely but I guess I can try to ease up on him if you and Millie can control him better. Or at least keep him away from me."
"Deal. Now since Alastor will be handling all our chores for awhile, let's just sit back and relax."
"For once Moxxie I agree with you."
The two then sat down and took a load off.