Helluva Boss X Reader (Season 1)

CHAPTER 91: FAULT LINE

Millie: Mox, wait!

The small imp didn't slow down for even a second.

He stormed down the narrow hallway with his rifle case slung across his back, his hooves striking the floor in sharp, irritated clacks while loud pop music thumped through the walls from the office next door, which was still half-packed after Verosika's concert. Millie had to hurry to catch up with him before he reached the elevator.

Moxxie was already standing in front of the metal doors, repeatedly jabbing the button with increasing hostility and muttering to himself under his breath.

Millie stepped up beside him and gently took his hand.

Millie: Moxxie..

Moxxie: No.

She blinked.

Millie: What?

Moxxie lowered his gaze to the floor, but he didn't pull his hand away from hers.

Moxxie: Don't try to make this sound reasonable.

She tilted her head, leaning closer to his face.

Millie: Hun, I'm not—

Moxxie: You planned this.

The accusation stopped her cold.

Moxxie finally turned to look at her, and the mixture of resentment and disbelief in his eyes caught her completely off guard, as though he had just uncovered a betrayal he never imagined she would be capable of.

At that exact moment, the elevator doors slid open.

Moxxie stepped inside immediately, breaking eye contact.

Millie followed in silence.

The doors closed, and the elevator began its descent with a weary mechanical hum.

For several seconds, neither of them spoke.

Then Moxxie let out a short, incredulous laugh and turned back to her.

Moxxie: A test? We're really doing this?

Millie: She wants this, Mox.

Moxxie: No.

He dragged both hands down his face in exhaustion, leaned his head back against the metal wall, and released a long, strained sigh.

Moxxie: She thinks she wants this, Mills. She's seven years old.

He stared at the closed doors in front of them.

Moxxie: She thinks she understands what we do, but she has absolutely no idea what this job actually entails.

Millie listened without interrupting while he continued speaking to the elevator doors as if they were personally responsible.

Moxxie: Since when do we accept that as an argument? If a child wanted to climb into a tiger cage, would you let them in just because 'it's what they want'?

Millie: Honey..

Moxxie planted his hands on his hips and launched into one of his increasingly dramatic analogies.

Moxxie: Oh, sure! Let's let the kid throw herself off a cliff because she saw in a movie that she could fly if she just believed hard enough!

Millie rested a hand on his shoulder when she saw him disappearing into his own logic.

Millie: Moxxie...

But he turned on her at once and pointed to himself, his voice suddenly stripped of all theatrics and laid painfully bare.