Joshua looked up from his cards, thick tail swaying behind him. "This reminds me of the old days."

A wolven figure slapped down a card and took a new one to replace it. "Before we died?"

A leering hyena chuckled, laughing in the unsettling way of his kind. "Let's not bring that up. It's not even fair. We played these how many times?" He leaned forward. "I'm all in."

Josh cocked a brow. "Betting your soul?"

The Hyena scowled at Joshua. "You know that ain't funny, or something we can joke around down here in the warm hold of Hell." He waved aside at the screeching, howling abyss of a city outside. "I'll bet the money I have and you'll like it."

"That's good enough for me." The wolven figure tossed in his cards. "I fold."

Joshua didn't look too happy but he dropped his hand as well. "All right, Winny, you've got yourself a win."

The last there, a female that looked almost human if not for her long feline tail. "Look at you, asking for things we don't even have anymore." She flipped Josh the bird. "You already own that and you know it."

The Hyena chuckled at her remark while Joshua's brows rose. "Do you really think so? I mean... we were pretty tight before—"

"Before you died," the hyena finished. He crossed his arms over his chest with a self-important smirk. "And you claimed that last game. Damn you for winning that last hand." He scratched at the top of the table. "How did you manage that so perfectly?"

"Stop teasing, Hank." Winny prodded at the then-named hyena. "We were all there, he didn't cheat. He just got lucky, nothing else. Not like he plays that well." All of them laughed, except Josh.

Joshua folded his arms. "Yeah yeah. I am your boss, technically." He rubbed behind his head. "You know I wouldn't do anything with that. We're friends, even down here. Uh, think of it as an insurance plan. Nobody else can snatch your soul if it's already mine, right?"

Hank rolled his eyes. "Let it go. If they want to sell their souls, let 'em sell to some other demon." The hyena patted his friend on the back. "Don't worry about us. It ain't fair to those who weren't as good as you. Maybe next time, someone will come along and knock you from your high horse."

Winny giggled, covering her mouth. "Didn't you used to say that sort of thing all the time?"

Josh paled faintly. "I'd never sell your souls! The idea..." Even if he knew those souls had a very real value, down in the pits of hell. Selling them off could secure his future for some time. "We're together."

The game continued into a new round, with each of them winning some, and losing others. They were all fairly mediocre, in the end, even if Joshua was a bit worse than the others. The otter had the worst poker face, grinning without meaning whenever he had a good hand. That his tail began to slap didn't help his case.

It seemed a harmless bet at first, but the pot grew until Winny tapped out. "Okay, I'm done for tonight. No more for me." There was grumbling, but they all stood up. None of them met Joshua's eyes directly as they filtered out of his apartment.

"Be sure to be on time tomorrow!" Josh called after them as he closed the door. He pressed his forehead against the cool metal of the frame and sighed. He fiddled with his cards, a royal flush. With a toss, he sent the cards to join the jumble on the table. "I can't stay here." With restless energy, he pushed out and headed down to the street level to get the closest equivalent of fresh air hell could provide.

The sound of crying caught Joshua's attention as he walked through the city. It was not uncommon for the tortured to yell, scream, or beg mercy from their tormentors. But this noise sounded more familiar than that; almost like... sniffling. He moved in closer, glancing around the corner to see three small demons tormenting the little imps.

"Hey, let him go, why don't you?" Joshua called as he marched forward.

The demons, the smallest of their varied ilk, looked up with a collective sneer. "Who's asking?" demanded the largest of them, still a runt compared to most.

Joshua glanced about a moment. "I am." But, as he said that, a brief flare washed out from him, thick with the power of the souls he had control over. Against any real mover, it would have been laughable. Against those tiny demons, they fled without another word, scattering in different directions.

That left the imp behind, bruised and bloodied. "You okay?" Joshua leaned in and over for a better look. "I scared them off."

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The imp rolled onto her back, heaving. "What's-- You know, the catch? What do you want?" One eye was swollen shut, the other looked Joshua over with bright purple color. "You want sex? Is that it? Anything with a hole? I get that."

Joshua cringed faintly. "I saw someone being mauled and came to help. You alright?"

"No. I just got the shit kicked out of me." She slammed the ground with her better hand, still huffing for breath. "I've had better days." She pushed up slowly to her feet. "But, uh, thanks, I guess? I don't owe you shit, so we're clear."

The otter nodded. "Sure, we're clear. I wasn't trying to help you out for payment. I mean--" He took a step back as she started to push up, stumbling a couple of times before he gave her space. "Those demons, were they-- Did they have a reason for that?" He had been in hell long enough to know there wasn't always a reason.

"Plenty of them." She dusted herself off. "But mostly I called their boss what he is and they didn't like that." She spat out blood to the side. "Not one bit." It was only then that she took the time to examine Joshua beyond possibly ripping her off. "Huh, otter?" She shrugged. "You pick that?"

"Not consciously." He reached back to play with his thick tail. "Just, uh, I think enough traits, you know? Playful, a bit of a doof." He shrugged with a smile. "Like swimming. And I can get stone serious when it's time."

"Noticed that." She started for the exit of the alley. "I'd ask your name but I don't give a shit. I'm Katie. You look like the kind of dope that'd want to know."

"I did." He rubbed behind his head, trailing behind her. "You alright? My apartment's not far from here."

"I thought you said you weren't looking for sex." She sneered, face still disfigured from the fight she had handidly lost. "Dirty fucker."

Joshua stopped where he was, ears folding back. "Not at all! Just offering medical stuff if you need it. You looked pretty banged up there." He held up both paws as if defending himself from her wrath. "Got clean water, bandages, a safe couch to crash on?"

Katie scoffed. "There ain't no such thing as a safe place in Hell, but I know of a place I can go." She pulled out a piece of paper and jotted down a quick note, sloppily drawn but clear.

Joshua leaned in for a peek, just to get elbowed away. "Hey, that's for me, thanks." She stuffed the writing away. "Whatever, I'm not getting rid of you, am I?"

"Not forcing you." He pointed past her to the street. "If you want to go, go."

"Wow." She rubbed over her bruised face, the swelling edging from its initial fury. "People like you either plan to take everything, or they're huge suckers that are going to have everything taken away."

"I've avoided both." He walked past her. "I'll stop bothering you, have a good one." But he didn't get far before he heard steps. He turned an ear, trained on those steps as they came up, and Katie matched his pace beside him. "Is there something I can do?"

She kept her eyes ahead. "Yeah, hold your head up higher, so I have someplace to hide." Her eyes remained focused elsewhere. "I know we just met and all, but I trust you're the kind of guy that doesn't ditch people." She risked a glance, just in time for Joshua to return that look.

He nodded, slipping an arm around her shoulders to bring her in. "Okay, this way then. I'll try to keep the attention from you." He couldn't help it, smiling a little goofily as he led her to his apartment building, then his apartment. "My casa es su casa!" He waved across the messy room.

"What a shit hole." Not that she was saying no, wandering in. "Who were you playing with?" She was eyeing the scattered cards on the table.

"Ah, friends." He sat down at the table. "You feel up to a game? I know you got roughed up a lot."

"A game?" She scooped up the cards. "Your friends left you at a high point? Betting anything?" She wagged her brows up and down at that.

Joshua chuckled. "Uh, just money."

She riffled through the cards, clearly knowing her way around a deck. "You want to make it more interesting, we can." She tossed down the cards. "Get your ass over here."

"What do you want to play?" He took a seat on the opposite side, setting the deck between them. "Poker? Blackjack?"

"Classics." She leaned forward. "Of course, a little sugarcake like you would name the classics. Let's play." She began to deal cards without saying which game. The number of cards implied blackjack was happening. "I got ten bucks. You could get ten bucks, if you win this game. You got ten to cover your side?"

Joshua squinted at that. "Ten dollars? I figured, you know..."

"Oh, that's cute." She snorted. "No, you won't get my soul, not for one game."

"No! No, of course not." He rubbed at the back of one of his hands. "What do you take me for?"

"Someone with a few souls to their name." She waved over Joshua. "Hard to hide that. It's what got those demonlings to bugger the hell off. So, just so we're clear, you're not adding mine to your collection. Besides, I ain't a sinner, idiot. I'm an imp." She winked at him.

The otter glanced around as if worried he was being watched. "Not about that." His eyes drew back to her. "It's not fair to put someone's soul up in a bet. I did that before. It was a joke, until it wasn't anymore."

"You're a funky little creature." She waved him closer, though. "Come here and show me those cards of yours. You better be planning to raise."

Joshua held up a finger to indicate the wait. He placed a single card down and she gave him the replacement. He smiled at whatever it was he was looking at.

"Damn it." She rolled her eyes at him. "That good?"

"What? No." He did his best to adopt a poker face with dubious results.

Katie tossed her hand down. "Fold. If you show me you have a bad hand after that, well, then you're a better player than I thought." She propped her chin up on her hand. "So, why don't you tell me more about how you died?"

Joshua grinned. "Now, you're the one being forward. We just met and you hop to that." He displayed his cards, two pairs.

Katie nodded at the cards as she collected them up to resume shuffling. "Not bad. Seen better, but better than I had. Here." She fished out a bill and slapped it down.

It was a five dollar bill.

Joshua peered at it a moment, but accepted it. "The other five is credit against my losses."

Katie rolled her eyes at the clarification, but agreed to that. "And now that you're giving it out, you owe me the story behind your death." She began to deal once again.

It would hardly be the last hand dealt on the floor of hell.